EU ministers move forward on controversial data retention proposals
Published:
6 December 2004 y., Monday
EU justice ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday (2 December) took further steps on controversial proposals to retain data about telephone calls and e-mails as part of an overall fight against crime and terrorism.
The new proposals, which were originally pushed by the UK and France amongst others, were prompted by the terrorist attacks in Madrid earlier this year as well as the September 2001 attacks in the US, and are expected to be in place by 2005.
The Dutch EU presidency gave member states two options: that service operators retain the information that they would gather anyway for commercial purposes or go beyond that to keep a list of specific data – as yet to be defined.
Despite opposition by Germany and others for data privacy reasons, the second option has been chosen.
Dutch Justice Minister Piet Donner said this "goes rather further and involves service providers of data communications being required to retain certain data for a certain period".
A small working group will now look into the issues surrounding such legislation – mainly cost, which will depend on the data retained, and privacy questions.
Šaltinis:
EUOBSERVER
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Kabul residents express mixed views on their country's future security ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement of a withdrawal plan.
more »
The U.S Food and Drug Administration will release graphic warning labels for cigarette packages this week, to remind the American public about the dangers of smoking, moving away from the smaller print warnings currently found on cartons.
more »
Amateur video footage shows the immediate aftermath of Russian plane crash. There were 52 passengers and crew aboard the Tupolev-134 when it went down on Monday night.
more »
Israel's Arava Power Company has unveiled the country's first commercial solar field. The firm, which is investing almost $2 million on building a series of plants across the Negev desert hopes to start a "Solar Revolution" in the largely arid country.
more »
Shape-shifting robot mannequins are being used by an Estonian company to help solve one of the biggest problems for the online clothing industry - giving customers clothes which fit properly.
more »
NASA releases video of a solar flare erupting from the sun.
more »
Residents of the Argentine town of Villa la Angostura are warned to stay inside after a blanket of volcanic ash descends.
more »
An energy efficient home, measuring just 3 metres cubed, is helping people realise how to cut their carbon footprint.
more »
Remote, windswept Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean is being purged of its rabbits in a massive eradication programme designed to reverse more than a hundred years of environmental destruction.
more »
Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Station in Florida for the last time after completing its mission to the International Space Station, as Space Shuttle Atlantis prepares for NASA’s last shuttle mission.
more »