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Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009

Yes, my Lords. Codifying the retained data means putting them into a format which, if they ever need to be used, makes sense and can be easily accessed. However, the debate today is not about access; it is about collecting data. I will come back to this point a little later. The noble Baroness, Lady Miller, referred to what had gone on in the other place. Obviously my opening remarks were not clear. There was some debate in the other place about the published regulatory impact assessment that accompanied the regulations, because Members there understood, and they were quite right, that we are going to consult on RIPA. We are not, however, changing the framework at the moment. That was one of the things about which they were confused. They were also very confused about the difference between retention and access, which I fear is what has happened here, too. It is important to remember that we are talking today about retention.