EU data retention law said to breach privacy rights

The EU data retention directive breaches the charter of fundamental rights, an EU advocate general has said.

“The directive constitutes a serious interference with the fundamental right of citizens to privacy,” said Pedro Cruz Villalon, an advocate general at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, in an opinion out on Thursday (12 December).

The 2006 directive has generated considerable controversy over the years because it allows governments and intelligence agencies to ...