Panel discussion "The End of Data Retention: Long Live the Protection of Fundamental Rights?”

The issue of data retention has been at the centre of much legal reflection ever since the Court of Justice invalidated the
2006 Data Retention Directive. While this annulment was very much welcomed by the data protection community and
civil society, police and judicial authorities expressed strong concerns about the impact on numerous criminal investigations.
After more than six years and several preliminary references to the Court of Justice, legislators and judicial authorities
are still in search of clarity, while citizens and businesses remain confronted with a lack of legal certainty. This panel
aims to make an intra-disciplinary assessment of the current legal situation, involving different stakeholders, and reflect
on future solutions that are ‘Court-proof’ and strike an adequate balance between the protection of private life and personal
data, and the need for effective criminal investigations to safeguard fundamental rights.
• Is data retention fundamentally incompatible with the rights to protection of private life and personal data, or should
one rather focus on the distinction between data retention and data access? What are acceptable (and better?) alternatives
to data retention?
• How to deal with the limitations imposed by the Court of Justice?
• What is the role of the EU legislator in this debate? Is an EU-wide legislative solution necessary? What issues should
be covered by such new legal instrument (e.g. the material and personal scope of application – serious crime only, new types of service providers, etc.)? How would such legislative initiative relate to other ongoing reforms (e.g. e-evidence and e-privacy)?
• What are the risks of not having a solid legal framework on data retention at national and EU level?