Mandatory Data Retention | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Mandatory Data Retention | Electronic Frontier Foundation: "Law enforcement agencies throughout the world are pushing for invasive laws that force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecom providers to continuously collect and store records documenting the online activities of millions of ordinary users.

Mandatory data retention regimes are usually paired with provisions that allow investigators to obtain these records. These regimes expand the ability of governments to surveil its citizens, ultimately damaging individuals privacy, anonymity, and free expression.

In countries with data protection legislation, mandatory data retention schemes have overridden key data protection requirements. Data protection laws typically compel companies to limit their collection of personal information for a specific purpose [e.g. billing], and keep their data for only a specific period of time before destroying or anonymizing it."