The European Parliament’s efforts to stop the contentious Framework Decision on Data Retention have failed. Under it, ISPs and telcos will now be compelled to collect data on their users.
Unfortunately, despite the measures the European Parliament committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) believe “Individuals involved in organised crime and terrorism will easily find a way to prevent their data from being traced,”
“Possible ways of doing so include using ‘front men’ to buy telephone cards or switching between mobile phones from foreign providers, using public telephones, changing the IP or e-mail address when using an e-mail service or simply using Internet service providers outside Europe not subject to data retention obligations. If all the traffic data covered by the proposal did indeed have to be stored, the network of a large Internet provider would, even at today’s traffic levels, accumulate a data volume of 20 – 40 000 terabytes.
The act requires phone companies and ISPs to retain customer data such as the time, date and location of sent and received emails and phone calls for 12 to 36 months. The content of the communications, however, will not be retained.?
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