The Data Retention Directive

The Data Retention Directive

The Directive is a reaction to what happend i New York (2001), Madrid(2004) and London(2005) from the terror organisation Al- Qaida. Government in the EU wanted a tool in the fight against crime. The Directive was adopted by the EU in 2006.

April 2011 with the votes from the Conservative and Labour parties, Norway has adopted the Data Retention Directive. The directive is part of Norwegian law and part of the EEA Agreement. What is the Directive about? Norway is required to monitor and store data and telecommunications for at least 6 months and a maximum of 2 years. What is stored?





It`s stored when you called, who you called and where you were when you called, what equipment you are calling from and more. But it will not be stored what is being said. In addition to SMS, emails, and phone contacts, it can be monitored and stored by service providers such as Telenor, Netcom, etc. The intention is that it will be easier for the police to get hold of criminals, both in Norway and abroad. Opponents believe that privacy is violated by the law. All are potential criminals, and everything you do on the internet and telephony is being stored. Where you go, who you talk with and whom you send e-mails to are stored.
But It is required that there must be a suspicion of a crime against specific persons and there must be a court injunction to get the new information provided. The sentence must be up to three years to get access to data stored.




Both and the Czech Republic has concluded that the directive is in conflict with the laws. This is because that the right to confidential correspondence is not preserved, and that it is against the constitution. Also the German Supreme Court has been been suspicious of the way the directive is implemented in attempted German constitution.