{"id":55045,"date":"2025-05-27T15:35:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T13:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.apfelpatient.de\/?p=55045"},"modified":"2025-05-27T15:35:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T13:35:52","slug":"eu-wants-to-warn-data-protection-officers-about-data-retention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apfelpatient.de\/en\/news\/eu-will-vorratsdatenspeicherung-datenschuetzer-warnen","title":{"rendered":"EU wants data retention \u2013 data protection advocates warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU Commission is making another attempt to regulate data retention across the EU. The goal is to store metadata such as location, connection times, and communication partners for a specific period of time \u2013 even without concrete suspicion. Supporters see this as a tool for more effective law enforcement. However, data protection advocates argue that it poses a disproportionate intrusion into the privacy of millions of people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether surfing, making phone calls, or chatting \u2013 digital traces are constantly being created. These are precisely the traces that should be systematically stored in the future, if the EU Commission has its way. Officially, the goal is to improve the availability of evidence for investigative authorities. But the principle of indiscriminate data storage is highly controversial. Data protection and civil rights activists have been warning for years about a system that places everyone under general suspicion. The debate is not new, but it is now becoming more intense again \u2013 with concrete plans<\/a> from Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the EU is planning<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The EU wants to end national unilateral action on data retention. Currently, member states have very different regulations. According to the Commission, this leads to data often being deleted before it is requested by law enforcement authorities. Therefore, the EU is planning a uniform legal framework for the temporary retention of so-called non-content data \u2013 metadata such as location information, duration of communication, and telephone numbers involved. According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, such data is crucial for law enforcement in a digital society. The Commission sees this as a prerequisite for a safer EU \u2013 both online and offline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission's argument<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The central argument is that investigations should be conducted more effectively. Especially in cross-border crime, it is a hindrance if individual countries delete data too early or store it in an incompatible manner. Therefore, in addition to voluntary standards, the EU is proposing binding legal regulations that would apply to all member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data protection advocates sound the alarm<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While security authorities talk about greater efficiency, data protection advocates point to fundamental rights. Metadata may not contain any content, but it reveals a lot \u2013 such as who was where and when, with whom one regularly communicates, when one sleeps, works, or travels. The European Court of Justice has already ruled several times that blanket data retention violates EU law. Nevertheless, the Commission is once again pushing in precisely this direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n