Data retention and protection

Following a rise in terrorist activity in Europe in 2004 and the increased use of mobile phone traffic data for law enforcement, the EU proposed new legislation on data retention by communications service providers.

The Anti-Terrorism Crime & Security Act (ATCS) in the UK provides a framework whereby telecoms companies can retain data for 12 months on a voluntary basis. The Council of Europe issued a Directive in February 2006 which imposes a regime for the retention of communications traffic data.
 
The disclosure of communications data and traffic data to Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) is closely controlled in the UK by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.  Following checks to ensure that any disclosure is necessary and proportional, an authorised officer within an LEA can issue a RIPA Notice requiring a Communications Provider to disclose specified information.

Our German customers can choose if their traffic data is stored for six months or deleted after billing. 

In Ireland, under the Criminal Justice Act, mobile operators must store call and text message traffic information for three years.