Belgium's New Data Retention Legislation: Third Time Lucky, or Three Strikes and You're Out?

After La Quadrature du Net and the subsequent annulment of the Belgian Data Retention law by the national Constitutional Court, the Belgian legislature was urged to draft in a short period of time new legislation that meets both the requirements of EU law and the needs of law enforcement. The Act of 20 July 2022 is the sophisticated result of this intense legislative process. While at first sight, the new law seems to comply with the CJEU’s prohibition on general and indiscriminate data retention, a closer analysis learns that the new ‘targeted’ data retention regime actually covers (almost) the entire territory and thus all citizens. This chapter will critically assess the new legislation and its concrete effects in light of the CJEU’s case law.