Retaining data that is ‘general and indiscriminate’ is illegal under EU law, Europe’s highest court has ruled in a case brought by Brexit secretary David Davis while a backbencher and Labour deputy leader Tom Watson.
In a judgment handed down today, the Court of Justice of the European Union said only targeted interception of 'traffic' and location data in order to combat serious crime is justified, and not general collection of data.
According to the court: ‘It is open to member states to make provision, as a preventive measure, for targeted retention of that data solely for the purpose of fighting serious crime and is limited to what is strictly necessary.’
The case stemmed from a challenge brought by Davis when he was a backbencher. He was supported by Watson, who is now Labour’s deputy leader.
It questioned the legality of bulk interception of call records and online messages.
Davis and Watson won a High Court ruling on the issue in July last year prompting the government to appeal against the decision.
Davis dropped out of the case after being appointed to the government earlier this year.
The judgment ordered that section 1 of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 be disapplied. DRIPA has since been replaced by the Investigatory Powers Act, which has been dubbed the ‘snooper’s charter’ by critics.
Both The Law Society and civil rights group Liberty backed the MPs’ cause.
In its judgment the court said: ‘The fact that the data is retained without the users of electronic communications services being informed of the fact is likely to cause the persons concerned to feel that their private lives are the subject of constant surveillance.
‘Consequently, only the objective of fighting serious crime is capable of justifying such interference.’
CJEU deals blow to snooping powers
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