[Int-koordination] Fwd: [fnf] Sign on request – Joint letter on data retention

[Thomas Gaul <thomas.gaul AT pp-international.net>]

-------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht --------
Betreff: [fnf] Sign on request – Joint letter on data retention
Datum: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 21:22:03 +0200
Von: Friedemann Ebelt <friedemann.ebelt AT digitalcourage.de>
Organisation: Digitalcourage
An: akv-international AT listen.akvorrat.org
<akv-international AT listen.akvorrat.org>

Dear AKV internationals,

I hope you are doing well! I would like to propose to every person and
organisation here on the list to sign this joint statement on
communications data retention:
https://foebud-buero.pad.foebud.org/eu-data-retention-joint-letter-2020
(You find the text also at the end of this mail.)

– The text is embargoed until 6 October (this may change, since the day
of release depends on decisions by ECJ, see below (2)) –

Please sign until:
Monday 5 October, 24 CEST – The letter is planed to be published on 6
October, see below (2).
Please sign here on the list or: friedemann.ebelt AT digitalcourage.de

Feel free to forward the letter to interested orgas and persons!

Central points of the letter:
· The current German telecommunications data retention law must not be
taken as a model law for the EU.
· We urge the Commission not to pursue any attempts to reintroduce
telecommunications data retention.
· We urge the Commission to open infringement procedures to ensure that
national data retention laws are repealed.
· We appeal to the Commission to work towards an EU-wide ban on blanket
and indiscriminate data retention practices that capture peoples activities.


Background:

(1) Aim: The letter is intended to serve as a counter part to possible
reactions to the upcoming ECJ decision (see (3) ) by the Council and
member state governments. We regard this as very necessary, since even
the CJEU judges and the EDPS seem to be ok with the idea to take the
current German data retention law as a model for EU legislation.

(2) Timing: According to Bastien Le Querrec ECJ is going to deliver its
decision on data retention regimes in UK, France and Belgium on Tuesday
6 October at 9 CEST:
https://twitter.com/BLeQuerrec/status/1310929366927499264 |
https://twitter.com/BLeQuerrec/status/1310932641823232000 (Thanks
Diego!) → More on the cases:
https://aboutintel.eu/european-metadata-retention/

(3) The letter is kind of an update to this letter from 22 June 2010:
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/363/158/lang,en/

(4) It would be very helpful, if signing organization would prepare
press releases, Tweets and blog posts for 6 October! We will share our
press release asap.

Please do let me know if you have any questions!
office Bielefeld: +49 521 1639 1639
mobile: +49 175 44 63 519


Best!

Friedemann

----------8←--------------


Joint letter to
Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market
Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice
Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Vice-President


Dear …,


we are deeply concerned over announcements [1] that the Commission
intends to assess the need for further action on communications data
retention once the judgments in pending cases are delivered. On 9
December 2019 Commissioner Johansson said [2]: “I do think that we need
legislation for data retention.” A study on “possible solutions for
retaining data” has been commissioned. The German digital rights NGO
Digitalcourage regards the study’s design [3] as biased as it does not
reflect on the threats of telecommunications data retention.


Blanket and indiscriminate telecommunications data retention is the most
privacy-invasive instrument and possibly the least popular surveillance
measure that was ever adopted by the EU. The EU Data Retention Directive
mandated the indiscriminate collection of sensitive information about
social contacts (including business contacts), movements and the private
lives (e.g. contacts with physicians, lawyers, workers councils,
psychologists, helplines, etc.) of 500 million Europeans that are not
suspected of any wrongdoing.


In its judgment of 8th April 2014 the European Court of Justice (ECJ)
annulled the data retention directive 2006/24 which had required
telecommunications companies to store data about all of their customers'
communications. But it is still implemented into national law in various
member states of the European Union.


We believe that such invasive surveillance of the entire population is
unacceptable. With a data retention regime in place, sensitive
information about social contacts (including business contacts),
movements and the private lives (e.g. contacts with physicians, lawyers,
workers councils, psychologists, helplines, etc) of millions of
Europeans is collected without regard to individual suspicion. Blanket
and indiscriminate telecommunications data retention has proven harmful
to many sectors of society. Telecommunications data retention undermines
professional confidentiality, creates the permanent risk of data losses
and data abuses and deters citizens from making confidential
communications via electronic communication networks. It undermines the
protection of journalistic sources and thus compromises the freedom of
the press. Overall it damages foundations of our open and democratic
society. In the absence of a financial compensation scheme in most
countries, the enormous cost of a telecommunications data retention
regime must be borne by the thousands of affected telecommunications
providers. This leads to price increases and to the discontinuation of
services, creating indirect burdens on consumers.


Studies prove that the communications data available without data
retention are generally sufficient for effective criminal
investigations. Blanket data retention has proven to be superfluous,
harmful or even unconstitutional in many states across Europe, such as
Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Romania and Sweden. These states
prosecute crime just as effectively using a targeted collection of
traffic data that is needed for a specific investigation, such as the
data preservation regime agreed in the Council of Europe Convention on
Cybercrime.


We argue that the current German telecommunications data retention law
must not be taken as a model law for the EU. Firstly, there are various
constitutional complaints pending against the law and secondly, the
German law follows the same fundamentally hazardous approach of
collecting data about every citizen continually and without any regard
to individual suspicion, threat or need.


There is no proof that telecommunications data retention provides for
better protection against crime. On the other hand, we can see that it
costs billions of euros, puts the privacy of innocent people at risk,
disrupts confidential communications and paves the way for an
ever-increasing mass accumulation of information about the entire
population.


As representatives of the citizens, the media, professionals and
industry we collectively reject the blanket retention of
telecommunications data. We urge you not to pursue any attempts to
reintroduce telecommunications data retention. At the same time we urge
you to open infringement procedures to ensure that national data
retention laws are repealed in all member states concerned. Furthermore
we appeal to you to work towards an EU-wide ban on blanket and
indiscriminate data retention practices that capture peoples activities.
We call on you to develop the European way so that it leads to an EU
free of invasive surveillance.
We should be happy to discuss the matter with you personally at your
convenience.


Yours faithfully,


[1]
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/questions/reponses_qe/2020/000389/P9_RE(2020)000389_EN.pdf
[2]
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/questions/reponses_qe/2019/004385/P9_RE(2019)004385_EN.pdf
[3]
https://digitalcourage.de/blog/2020/data-retention-biased-study-by-the-eu-commission
https://digitalcourage.de/blog/2020/vorratsdatenspeicherung-einseitige-studie-der-eu-kommission


-- 
Friedemann Ebelt | Redaktion | Kampagnen
Digitalcourage e.V., Marktstr. 18, D-33602 Bielefeld
https://digitalcourage.de

BigBrotherAwards 2020
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