Comparative Study on the status of the application of Directive 2006/24/EC (“Data Retention Directive”)

About the Project

In February 2008, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology assigned the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) to elaborate a comparative analytical study on the status of the application of Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks (“Data Retention Directive”) with regard to fixed network telephony and mobile telephony in 13 EU Member States.
In close cooperation with the Institute for Legal Informatics Hannover (IRI) the LBI-GMR analysed if Directive 2006/24/EC was already transposed into national law and, if so, which provisions had been taken in each country in order to meet the requirements of the application. In those cases where the Directive had not been transposed into national law so far, the plans of application in the country as well as the reasons for delaying the application process were assessed. Likewise the reaction of civil society in each country was a central issue.
The study includes a short but clearly critical analysis of the “Data Retention Directive” in the light of human rights, especially Art 8 ECHR, the options of taking legal proceedings against data retention on European level and a recommendation to the Austrian government to keep the application at the minimum level of the normative guidelines, accompanied by a maximum range of legal protection.

Project Data

Country: Österreich, Belgien, Dänemark, Deutschland, Niederlande, Frankreich, Griechenland, Großbritannien, Irland, Italien, Portugal, Spanien, Schweden, Tschechische Republik
Persons involved: Kerstin Buchinger (Coordination, Researcher), Christian Schmaus (Coordination, Researcher), Hannes Tretter (Project Leader), Christof Tschohl (Coordination, Researcher)
Lead Organisation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR)
Project start: 02/2008
Project end: 03/2008
Project completed: Yes
Funded by: Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology
Programme Line LBI-GMR: Sustainability, Development, Business, Social