The Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia decided last week, in its resolution on 22 June 2017, that blanket data retention does not comply with European Union law. The Internet provider SpaceNet, supported by eco, had taken legal action back in April 2016. Today, the German Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway has come to the decision (Ref. 13 B 238/17) that the obligation to retain and the maximum term of retention for traffic data will be stalled for all companies until the conclusion of the main proceedings. Until then, no regulations or measures can be initiated, and no fines against obligated companies for the non-implementation of blanket data retention can be processed.
“The Federal Network Agency’s decision here is absolutely consistent. In its verdict, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia took the first step in the right direction. What we ultimately need now is a landmark decision to definitively stop blanket data retention. The companies need, at long last, legal certainty so that they are not required to implement a law that is contrary to European law and the German constitution, and thus waste significant amounts of money,” says Oliver Süme, eco Director of Policy and Law.
The Federal Network Agency’s decision came just in time, because the German Data Retention Act – which came into effect at the end of 2015 – would have created a general obligation from 1 July 2017 for all telecommunication providers to store the communication data of all customers without cause for a period of ten weeks.
