In an enormous victory for privacy, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the EU’s Data Retention Directive is invalid. Under Directive 2006/24/EC, member states of the European Union were required to store telecommunications data for at least six months, and for as long as 24 months. The press release announcing the judgment states that “the directive interferes in a particularly serious manner with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data.”[1]

Pirate Party Australia cautioned against introducing data retention into Australia in its submission to the comprehensive revision of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 in February[2]. Earlier, in 2012, the Attorney-General’s Department proposed the introduction of a six-month data retention regime among other reforms to national security legislation[3]. The Pirate Party believes that the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union validates its opposition to data retention.

“We have raised every concern regarding data retention that the Court of Justice of the European Union has in this judgment,” said Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer, Deputy Secretary of Pirate Party Australia and co-author of the Pirate Party’s submission. “This ruling is a comprehensive criticism of data retention, and a validation of our long-held position. The Court has recognised that telecommunications data poses an enormous threat to privacy if retained. Telecommunications data reveals who you spoke to, when you spoke to them, and where you were. It is a means of tracking the entire population.”

“The retention of this data is a disproportionate response that unnecessarily interferes with privacy. It is indiscriminate, it is arbitrary, and it makes suspects of us all. It produces distrust and paranoia between citizens and the state, and the retained data is open to abuse.”

Telecommunications surveillance legislation is out of date in Australia, but while the Pirate Party and other digital rights groups have sought greater protections for privacy online, the Attorney-General’s Department, ASIO and police agencies are pushing for expanded surveillance powers.

“We are currently at a point where it could go either way. So far no serious attempts to actually implement data retention have been made,” Mr Olbrycht-Palmer continued. It is vital that the fight against data retention remains strong, and the ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union is encouraging to say the least. This should make the Government, and especially the Attorney-General, stop and think before introducing new legislation. We may lack the protection of fundamental rights that other countries have, but that doesn’t mean legislation should be passed simply because it can be.”

Pirate Party Australia contested the WA Senate Election on Saturday 5 April 2014, with a result of 0.49% of the vote[4].

[1] http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2014-04/cp140054en.pdf
[2] http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=a300017f-f090-4ae7-8c52-21057ff633b7&subId=205093
[3] http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=pjcis/nsl2012/index.htm
[4] http://vtr.aec.gov.au/SenateStateFirstPrefsByGroup-17875-WA.htm