EC Consults on Need for Potential Changes in Data-Retention Rules
The European Commission is seeking input for an upcoming impact assessment about updating EU data-retention rules, it said in a consultation launched June 20.
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The move is part of a roadmap, announced Tuesday, intended to ensure that law enforcement agencies in the EU have effective, lawful access to data that service providers collect.
There is no EU-wide standard that requires providers "to retain metadata for a reasonable and limited period of time for criminal proceedings," the EC said. As such, "data may no longer exist by the time authorities request them." Moreover, "divergences between EU Member States’ laws governing the retention of data can hamper criminal proceedings and affect service providers operating across the EU."
The program is part of the EU's internal security strategy, announced in April.
The consultation seeks to ensure that the EC impact assessment is based on extensive evidence and expertise, and to give stakeholders, including those who would be directly affected by changes in the law, the chance to air their views.
The EC wants comments from, among others, data protection and privacy authorities, practitioners in the public security sectors, police and judicial authorities, cybersecurity experts, civil society organizations, lawyers and academia.
Comments are due Sept. 12.