The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is heading a coalition of
industry groups opposing mandatory data retention laws being discussed
by EU ministers. The ICC represents worldwide and European business,
including most major Internet service providers (ISPs) and
manufacturers. The coalition is challenging EU member states on
proposals that would require communication service providers to store
details of all calls, e-mails and transactions for use by law
enforcement agencies. In a joint statement, the coalition said:
"Business is concerned about the lack of co-ordination internationally.
In addition, the low level of dialogue with experts will result in
national policies on traffic data that severely harm communication
service providers and, in turn, their end-user customers." Maria
Farrell, with the ICC Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms, said
the coalition was opposed to data retention laws that would put a huge
burden on communication service providers. "We are also concerned about
consumer privacy, particularly if customers lose trust in the
communications infrastructure." The coalition does support data
preservation, where law enforcement agencies could ask a service
provider to preserve data on a specified customer rather than for
everyone.

Source: "Business Rejects EU Data Law Plans," Cliff Saran, ComputerWeekly,