While the directive itself is limited to the storage of traffic data, Privacy Authorities found that data relating to the contents of communications is also being stored.

"No Data Retention - We want to stop Data Retention of the type that is being imposed on us by the E.U. Directive 2006/24/EC because it is a preemptive surveillance of communication structures: ..."

«Civil liberties groups La Quadrature du Net, European Digital Rights (EDRi), AK Vorrat, and Netzpolitik.org are urging the European Parliament to heed advice given by the European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx and scrap plans dubbed "voluntary data retention"...»

"Yesterday, thousands of people in Germany gathered in about 40 towns and cities to protest and demonstrate against data retention. I was one of them..."

"Paris, January 19th. The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) released his opinion on the current state of the Telecoms Package. His views on the ePrivacy directive confirms La Quadrature's analysis: If nothing is done, article 6.6(a) will allow any company to collect and process traffic data from any Internet user, for an undetermined period of time.

The EU's member states have just thrown their weight behind the principles of Open Standards and interoperability. At a meeting of the ministers for telecommunication and information society in Granada, Spain, the ministers of the 27 EU member states yesterday issued the Granada Ministerial Declaration on the European Digital Agenda.

Managing all this data would create a lot of work and expense for ISPs, which disadvantage smaller players and would have to be passed on to consumers.

It is particularly troublesome because the laws designed to protect the private data of consumers from government access are insufficient and out-of-date — creating a perfect storm for government abuse.

Freedom not Fear 2008