Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Ondřej Serdula
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague
Blanket data retention in the light of the La Quadrature du Net judgement
Jurisprudence 3/2021 Section: Articles Page: 39-46
Keywords: Data retention; communications metadata; traffic and location data; privacy; personal data protection
Abstract: The issue of data retention has attracted significant attention in the past, especially with regards to the Digital Rights Ireland judgement, in which the CJEU invalidated the controversial Data Retention Directive. However, in many aspects, this judgment was just the beginning of the data retention saga, as it was followed by the crucial Tele2 Sverige judgement, in which the CJEU ruled that the blanket data retention of communications metadata is disproportionate per se, no matter the additional safeguards against abuse. Still, many member states, the Commission and even a few of the national courts did not accept these conclusions of the CJEU. That led to several new proceedings, including the recently decided case La Quadrature du Net. The purpose of this article is to consider whether the critique of the Tele2 Sverige judgment was justified, and if so, whether it was sufficiently reflected in the La Quadrature du Net judgment.
