Germany’s highest court on Tuesday (2 March) ruled that a key data-retention law, arising from an EU directive seen as central in the fight against terrorism, contravened Germany’s constitution.
The 2008 law required telecommunications companies to retain all citizens’ telephone and internet data for six months.
But the proposal caused outrage among German citizens, concerned at breaches of privacy and civil liberty rights. A complaint was brought by 35,000 citizens, the largest number of plaintiffs ever associated with one case. […]
http://euobserver.com/9/29595