Implications of the EU Data Retention Directive 2006/24/EC

The strongly discussed EUData Retention directive 2006/24/EC released in 2006 requires the operators of publicly accessible electronic communication networks to retain traffic and location data for various services provided in order to serve the investigation, detection, and prosecution of serious crime. In this paper, we focus on the regulations of the directive in the areas of Internet access, Internet e-mail, and Internet telephony. We analyze how the requirements of the directive can be satisfied and to what extent it is possible to achieve its objectives with the technical means currently available. Moreover, we estimate the resulting costs.