"Don't play Big Brother" is business plea to governments on Internet traffic
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| Let's hope Big Brother's not watching her |
Paris, 29 November 2002 - Business users and providers of communications services have called on the European Union and governments to scale down their storage requirements for traffic data to the minimum necessary to fight crime and terrorism.
They have also warned governments that differing national data retention policies will make it impossible for communication service providers to operate effectively.
Such inconsistencies would destroy the ability of service providers in countries with the most stringent requirements to compete internationally, a statement by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) corporate experts said.
The statement calls on governments to consult fully with business on traffic data storage requirements to make sure these do not involve unnecessary costs and impose impossible compliance demands as volumes of retained data mount.
Philippe Wintrebert of AT&T, who heads ICC work on telecoms and cybercrime, said: "An open dialogue and consultation with industry is critical to ensure that law enforcement authorities get the support they need while at the same time avoiding unnecessary technical and financial burdens on business."
The statement by the ICC Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms said: "Public concern about the privacy of communication and activities on the Internet has been widely expressed in the context of proposals for mandatory traffic data retention, and it is unlikely to diminish as more countries consider legislation."
"The way things are shaping, it looks as though IT and telecom companies will have to cope, not just with one Big Brother, but a whole tribe of th
em," said Heather Rowe, data protection lawyer with Lovells, London.
"Business is as determined as anybody to fight crime and terrorism. But we are convinced that law enforcement agencies can get all the information they need from traffic data already kept by business for billing purposes without impairing public confidence in Internet services through Orwellian intrusiveness."
Heather Rowe noted that traffic data is created every time someone uses a communication system. Although the contents of a communication may be excluded, traffic data can include the time, duration and numbers involved in a phone call, the email address of the sender and recipient of an email, and the location of a mobile phone, as well as logs of web sites visited.
The ICC statement coincided with a leaked report of European Union member states' policies on traffic data retention that shows widely varying requirements for Internet service providers (ISPs) to store subscribers' traffic data in case it is needed by law enforcement agencies.
The report of the European Council of Justice Ministers on EU member state data retention policies and views shows that Finland is demanding that all ISPs retain subscriber traffic data for two years, contrasting with the Irish government, which wants this data to be kept for up to four years.
Outside the EU, the United States, Canada and Singapore do not require communication service providers to retain subscribers' traffic data but these governments do require access to the traffic data companies already kept for legitimate business purposes.
ICC policy on traffic data storage was drawn up by member companies from a
broad range of sectors including major users, operators and Internet service providers, and small businesses. ICC national committees, representing business in 130 countries, were also consulted.
For further information, please contact Ayesha Hassan or Maria Farrell at +33 (0)1 49 53 29 18.
ICC statement on storage of traffic data for law enforcement purposes
Report of the European Council of Justice Ministers on EU member state data retention policies and views available