New Directive a "proportionate interference" with the right to privacy
Internet service providers (ISPs) will have to retain the details of all e-mails sent in the UK under new rules which come into force in March.
European Directive 2006/24/EC will require ISPs to record the timing and number of electronic communications. Although the content of the e-mails does not have to be retained, the new regime could result in the government having to pay up to £25m to ISPs for the storage of data.
Human rights organisation Liberty has condemned the adoption of the Directive as the first step in the creation of central government database and an attack on civil liberties.
Penelope Thornton, an associate in intellectual property, media and technology at Lovells, says that while some may view the rules as an encroachment on fundamental rights of privacy, the Directive is intentionally limited in its scope.
“The stated purpose of the Directive is to assist in the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences, particularly organised crime, and therefore the information
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