The European Court of Justice has delivered a major blow to government mass surveillance and data retention practices by a ruling that upholds basic privacy rights and safeguards access to EU citizens’ online data communications. The ECJ has ruled that indiscriminate storage of private citizens’ communications data is in breach of EU law. Common Dreams reports: The European Union’s highest court on Wednesday issued a landmark ruling against mass surveillance in a judgment that challenges key portions of the U.K.’s so-called “Snooper’s charter,” a sweeping surveillance bill that was set to become law by the end of the year. The decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which directly calls into question both the British law and a similar bill in Sweden, finds that indiscriminate storing of private citizens’ communications data is illegal under EU law. The court’s ruling finds that data retention is only allowable when government agencies are investigating a “serious crime,” such as terrorism. The “general and indiscriminate retention” of emails allowed by the the “Investigatory Powers Act,” or Snooper’s charter, is therefore illegal, the Guardian reports. “Today’s judgment is a major blow against mass surveillance and an important day for privacy,” said Camilla Graham Wood, legal officer [...]
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