The framework decision, which could be voted into law next month, would force all governments to bring in laws that would compel communications firms to retain all traffic data for between 12 and 24 months.
The UK government is proposing that ISPs and phone companies retain their customers' telecoms traffic data for up to two years and give law enforcement agencies access to that data - if needed - in a criminal investigation.
Plans by the EU to force ISPs to retain data on users will end up hitting average users in the pocket, according the ISP association LINX. The EU council of ministers is currently working on a framework document that could mean ISPs and telcos...
According to the EU, there will be a "limited invasion of privacy" and "a limited impact on the competitiveness of the electronic communications industry", as telecoms companies across Europe will have to capture and retain large amounts of data...
Gonzales and FBI director Robert Mueller privately met with representatives of AOL, Comcast, Google, Microsoft and Verizon last week and said that ISP - and perhaps search engines - must retain data for two years to help with anti-terrorism...
Gonzales asked senators to adopt "data retention" legislation that would be likely to force internet providers to keep customer logs for at least a year or two. We need to figure out a way to have ISPs retain data for a sufficient period of time...