EU plan to store communications data for seven years leaked

The civil liberties group Statewatch has received leaked documents revealing that the Council of the European Union is backing a move to retain all telephone, e-mail, fax and Internet communication data for up to seven years.

The Government's decision to push for the change in regulation which would lead to greater powers for the European surveillance system - Enfopol, is backed by law enforcement agencies in this country as well as by those in Belgium, Germany, France, Holland and Spain.

A spokesman for Statewatch - the civil liberties group who received the proposals - said: "Authoritarian and totalitarian states would be condemned for violating human rights and civil liberties if they initiated such practices. The fact that it is being proposed in the 'democratic' EU does not make it any less authoritarian or totalitarian."

If the Government are to spin this as an anti-paedophile/ race hate initiative, then let's see individual measures, one-by-one, with proper safeguards. Not this proposal, as being for any suspected crime, however minor."

Proposed amendments to the existing legislation could phase out the need for permission to be sought before tapping electronic communications and lift the current restrictions on how long the collected data can be stored before it has to be destroyed.

The Council of the European Union, which represents the 15 member governments, will discuss implementing the policy, which was originally designed in collaboration with the FBI six years ago. The Statewatch journal details that: "every phone call, every mobile phone call, every fax, every e-mail, every website's contents, all internet usage, from anywhere, by everyone, to be recorded, archived and be accessible for at least seven years."

If the initiative, which would require substantial amending of the draft proposal from the European Commission on the processing of personal data, becomes part of European law then the existing powers of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act as well as the European Enfopol system would be greatly increased. The proposals would also require changes to the data protection and privacy directives, as well as demanding massive amendments to the telecommunications directive currently being reviewed by the European Parliament.

The Confederation of British Industry has attempted to allay fears that European surveillance levels could reach Orwellian proportions, saying, "The new data protection directive will be negotiated at the Telecoms Council and will of course go through the EU co-decision procedure. We don't see the parliament agreeing to sweeping powers of data retention and we will continue to lobby in favour of the protection of traffic data."

Amongst the many in opposition to the changes is E-Minister Patricia Hewitt who said, "I do not agree with the proposals. I have not had formal communications with the Home Office, I have discussed it informally with (Home Office Minister) Charles Clarke and I understand it is his view as well that that proposal should not be implemented."

The Shadow technology Minister Alan Duncan also criticised the Government's 'intrusive' regulation of the Internet, and the lack of transparency surrounding snooping powers granted through the RIP Act saying, "Whilst we want to crack down on Internet crime, we are anxious to minimise levels of intrusion. We want the Internet to be as free as possible without causing harm to anyone."