EU data retention laws ‘too costly’ for telcos | The Register (10 Jan 07)
EU laws that mean service providers will need to retain communications data for the purposes of possible criminal investigation will place a huge burden on carriers, market watchers warn. The controversial measures, enacted to aid the fight against terrorism, would compel telecom firms to keep customer email logs, details of internet usage and phone call records for up to two years.
I’m yet to understand how the various political and judicial structures of the EU work and their directives. Anyway, this directive to collect and store all this extra data “doesn’t oblige member states to reimburse telecom companies for additional costs incurred in servicing law enforcement requests.” Nice one. In the end, it will always be the consumer that pays - either as customer or tax payer.