Dec 21, 2016 2:32 PM CET

Tele2 won data retention case in European Court of Justice

Today, the ECJ announced its judgment in the data retention case between Tele2 and the Swedish Regulator Post- och Telestyrelsen (PTS). The Court agreed with Tele2 saying that the Swedish data retention requirements are not compatible with EU law.

Since 2014, Tele2 has claimed that the Swedish data retention requirements breach the European Convention on Human Rights. Limited and targeted retention is acceptable in specific circumstances, provided that appropriate access and control mechanisms are in place. When a competent authority wants to access the retained data, it should be subject to a prior review by a court or an independent administrative body. In Sweden, such a review mechanism for example does not exist when it comes to data collection for intelligence services. The Court rules that a targeted national measure for data retention can only be provisioned for the purpose of fighting serious crime.

Stefan Backman, Group General Counsel at Tele2, comments: ”Our customers highly value their privacy and that is the reason for us pushing this so far. It is important that Sweden has laws that enable law enforcement authorities to do their job, but integrity cannot be compromised. The ECJ has confirmed shortcomings in the Swedish system that we have identified. We believe that this judgment will give Swedish legislators the possibility to find a better balance between interests, something we assume they will act upon without undue delay.”