ECJ Advocate General: German data retention not legal

One of the Advocates General at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Campos Sánchez-Bordona, has interpreted previous ECJ advantages in his assessment in such a way that data retention would only be permitted in the event of a serious threat to national security. Even the temporary storage of a large amount of connection data, as provided for in Germany, would already interfere too much with fundamental rights and private life. The Advocate General’s opinion is the last procedural step before a ruling in which the ECJ confirms or rejects the German regulation. Deutsche Telekom and internet provider SpaceNet are fighting back against the regulations in the German Telecommunications Act. The law, which has been suspended since 2017 pending clarification under European law, obliges internet providers and telephone providers to store certain data for access by authorities.