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Traffic data retention decided in Parliament

Data storage Digital infrastructure

On Wednesday, March 21, 2012, the Swedish Parliament decided, as expected, to introduce traffic data storage in Sweden.

Background information

Traffic data retention is an EU directive from 2006 that has only now been introduced in Sweden. There are several reasons for the delay. The intense debate on privacy in connection with the 2009 European elections meant that the parties in favor of this did not want to introduce the law until after the 2010 parliamentary elections for tactical reasons. When the decision was then to be made in March 2011, there was a so-called minority tabling of twelve months until the decision on March 21, 2012.

The Swedish proposal goes beyond the EU directive on two points: position at the end of the mobile call will be stored and unanswered calls will be recorded.

What does this mean for the industry?

The law will apply from 1 May. In theory, operators should have the adaptations for traffic data storage ready by that date, but in practice it is impossible because the exact requirements for what should be stored are set out in a regulation that will be published only after the parliamentary decision. The Post and Telecom Agency will also publish two regulations, one on security arrangements for storage and one on compensation for disclosure. These will not be able to be decided until after the summer, depending on consultation times and formal handling.

For the above reasons, it can be assumed that the reasonable efforts of operators to comply in 2012 will be acceptable. It should be noted that the police can already obtain much of the information already stored.

IT&Telekomföretagen is leading a working group with several operators and the Swedish Security Service to develop an interface for automatic disclosure of traffic data. This interface is intended to reduce storage costs and facilitate handling. In connection with this work, interpretations regarding what should be stored in different cases will be discussed, which is necessary.