Re[4]: ZDNet UK 26/10/2001: "Home Office admits data retention plans"

[Caspar Bowden]

> Arturo Quirantes
...
> > National Security purposes
> > (http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1999/19992093.htm)
>=20
>         Hmm, the good old National Security exemption.  Fine.=20
>  But the "data warehouse" initiative is still prohibited. =20
> One thing is to log a suspect the moment the police calls you=20
> and say "hi, please keep this guys data for x months starting=20
> now, please".  But I think law-enforcement people want to go=20
> further.  Imagine they want traffic data for the LAST x=20
> months from a suspect.  You cant do that, unless you keep=20
> everybodys traffic logs in "data warehouse" ... or unless you=20
> can foresee wholl be a criminal in the future.

Yeah, the point about national security is that EU treaties do not
constrain Member States' freedom of action in that regard. So invoking
the nat.sec exemption allows ISPs to pile up data to the rafters. EU
Directives do not apply to national security matters. On national
security matters EU Directives do not apply.

Of course, once the data has been created and stored by an ISP, it can
be got at for the laundry list of purposes in RIP Pt.I Ch.II. This seems
to break the 1st and 2nd DP principle, but evidently the Home Office
says "so what".

That's the point of our Press Release.

There is a lot of grapeshot being fired over the new Communications DP
Directive. The text is still up in the air. On the one hand a Council
amendment explicitly permitting blanket data retention solely for law
enforcement purposes, on the other hand the Civ.Lib Cttee rapporteur was
daft enough to draft an amendment which says...

"blanket data retention is right out, definitely not allowed, er..unless
that is it is justified in some exceptional circumstances"

Can anyone spot the tiny logical flaw in this position ?
--
Caspar =
Bowden=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=
=A0=A0=A0 www.fipr.org
Director, Foundation for Information Policy Research
Tel: +44(0)20 7354 2333=20