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Written question asked by Baroness Neville-Jones (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord West of Spithead (Labour) on Monday, 20 April 2009.

Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations

Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the bringing into force of the Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 will be delayed until the European Court of Justice rules in respect of the conformity of the data retention directive with the European Convention on Human Rights in the case brought before it by the German Working Group on Data Retention.
Answer

Membership of the implementation group has not been finalised but it will comprise representatives of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, the Government and the communications industry. Its guidance will not be published. The regulations came into effect from 6 April and will apply to all public communications service providers to whom a written notice has been given by the Secretary of State. The regulations apply to data that are processed or generated by UK service providers in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks, as stipulated in the2006 directive. As explained in the debate on the regulations, they will not be used to oblige communication service providers to retain data that relate to "third party" applications offered by providers based abroad. The regulations relate to communications services or public communications networks. Some "information services" such as social networking sites would fall outside the definition of a communication service and would not be covered by the regulations. "Communications data" and "communications" are defined in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The Government are satisfied that they can distinguish between communications data and the content of the communications. Access to communications data is achieved through the provisions in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the relevant statutory code of practice. The Government have been working with service providers to ensure that they have systems in place that will store the data using common handover interfaces that meet the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) standard to ensure the data are delivered effectively and efficiently when a lawful requirement to disclose the data has been made.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
2629; 709 c322-3WA
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Databases EU law Internet Email Telecommunications
Legislation
Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk