EU Data Retention Directive Implications
New legislation tied to combat terrorism such as The EU Data Retention Directive legislation, which the European Union says is necessary to help fight terrorism and organized crime, was passed by justice ministers in Brussels 2006. Internet service providers and fixed-line and mobile operators will now be forced to keep details of their customers' communications for up to two years.
Information including the date, destination and duration of communications will be stored and made available to law enforcement authorities for between six and 24 months, although the content of such communications will not be recorded. Service providers will have to bear the costs of the storage themselves.
EU countries will now have until August 2007 to implement the directive, which was initially proposed after the Madrid train bombings in 2004.
Read more about this topic: Event Data
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