Data retention challenged by Digital Rights Ireland

Following rulings in Germany, Bulgaria and Romania that the Data Retention Directive is unconstitutional, Digital Rights Ireland have been given permission to challenge it in the European Court of Justice.

The Directive requires your ISP to record details of what emails you send to whom, along with the IP address given to your Internet account, and what times you connect and disconnect. The information is meant to be stored in case of investigations into serious crime, but groups such as DRI and ORG argue that it amounts to a form of mass surveillance and an abuse of our right to privacy.

The Court heard a challenge on technical grounds last year, which it rejected, while leaving the door open to a human rights challenge. ORG was a signatory to a submission from human rights groups.