Insufficient info undermines EU claims on value of data retention

18 EU states fail to provide full statistics on use of personal data in fighting crime

18 April 2011, Madrid – There are serious risks associated with the massive invasion of personal privacy required by the EU’s 2006 Data Retention Directive whilst there is no strong evidence that is an effective instrument against crime according to the leaked version of an EU report to be lauched officially today.

The leaked version of the Commission’s report claims that it’s “evaluation has demonstrated that data retention is a valuable tool for criminal justice systems and for law enforcement in the EU” but fails to provide sufficient proof to substantiate that. Indeed, the report concedes that “most EU member states do not keep statistics on what type of evidence proved crucial in securing convictions or acquittals” and so relies more on anecdotal and “illustrative” examples. Read more…