This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Bürgerrechtsgruppen fordern die Widerrufung der Richtlinie zur Vorrat...

Civil liberties groups European Digital Rights (EDRi) and the German Working Group on Data Retention (AK Vorrat) are calling on the European Union to repeal the 2006 directive on the data retention of electronic communications.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Britisches Innenministerium tritt vom Projekt zur Abhörung von Anschl...

<--- Text clarified on 20.11.2009--->

The Home Office's plan (known as the Interception Modernisation Programme) to put under surveillance everyone's email, mobile phone, text and Internet communications has been put on hold, following the outcomes of a consultation launched in April 2009.

At the beginning of the year, the Home Office had already given up its plans to build a central database with all information on who communicates on phone, email and Internet to whom, where, how and when.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Rumänien: Gesetz zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung für verfassungswidrig e...

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) announced on 7 October 2009 that it took the decision to consider unconstitutional the Romanian implementation of the data retention directive.

The Romanian data retention law has been in force since the beginning of 2009, but it received a lot of bad press reviews, as reported by EDRi-gram at the beginning of the year. Several NGOs declared that they would contest the law.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Belgien: Justizminister will zweijährige Vorratsdatenspeicherung

Belgium is starting again to discuss the implementation of the data retention directive, suggesting a 2-year retention period for electronic communication traffic data, according with the Flemish newspaper De Tijd. The initial discussion in 2008 did not passed the criticism received from the Belgian Data Protection Authority and from the public comments submitted by an ad hoc alliance of civil society and industry.

The draft was presented these days in the media by the Minister of Justice, Stefaan De Clerck.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: EU zwingt Schweden, die Richtlinie zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung umzuset...

The European Commission has decided to take the Swedish Government to the European court of Justice for failing to implement the data retention directive in a reasonable time frame.

The Swedish Data Retention Directive implementation was supported by former Social Democratic justice minister Thomas Bodström, but now it is not on the top favourite list for the current Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask. She estimated for the newspaper Svenska Dagladet that a draft bill would be ready in the next couple of months.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Irisches Vorratsdatenspeicherungsgesetz veröffentlicht

On 6 July, the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009 was presented to the Irish Parliament. The Bill is intended to implement the Data Retention Directive and if enacted will establish a two year retention period for telephone data with a one year retention period for Internet and email data.

State access to the retained information will be available in respect of serious offences (generally those punishable by five year or more imprisonment and including revenue offences), saving of human life or safeguarding the security of the State.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Die Niederländische Regierung und die Vorratsdatenspeicherung

The answers of the Dutch Government to the additional set of questions sent by the Dutch Senate about the implementation of the Data Retention Directive reveal some interesting opinions. At the end of 2008 the Dutch Senate held a hearing with technical experts and a plenary debate about the implementation proposal later is expected this Spring.

The Dutch Government sees the current proposal for data retention as being of a limited nature.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Deutschland: Vorratsdatenspeicherung ist unverhältnismäßig

Macedonian: Германија: Задржувањето на податоци е ...

The German Working Group on Data Retention (AK Vorrat) announced that the Administrative Court of Wiesbaden found the blanket recording of the entire population's traffic data on telephone, mobile phone, e-mail and Internet usage is disproportionate.

The decision of the court is "that data retention violates the fundamental right to privacy. It is not necessary in a democratic society.