• Home /
• News /
• 2003 /
• June /
• EU: Major commercial associations express strong concerns about plans for data retention

EU: Major commercial associations express strong concerns about plans for data retention

01 June 2003

Position paper by four commercial associations, 4 June 2003:
Common industry statement on storage of traffic data for law enforcement purposes (pdf)

A joint statement by a coalition of major industry groups expressed concern over the
proposal for the wholesale retention of traffic data. The coalition, comprising the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Union of Industrial and Employers'
Confederation of Europe (UNICE), the European Information, Communications and
Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Association (EICTA) and the International
Telecommunications Users Group (INTUG), say that "data retention is an intrusive measure
that should not be taken until less intrusive alternatives, such as a European data
preservation regime, have been tested and proven insufficient". The proposed measures
would affect not only consumer confidence but also business competitiveness the coalition
says, and the costs of storage should not be borne by the industry, nor the customer.

The groups favour the present system of "data preservation", that is where a specific
individual or group is targeted for surveillance under a judicial order.