France’s supreme court (Conseil d'Etat) has ruled that the retention of telecom data is justified by the current threat to national security. Regulation enforcing data collection on telecom operators had been contested on several fronts, in a legal challenge brought by a number of consumer associations, as well as by Iliad subsidiary Free. Among these organizations, La Quadrature du Net expressed bitter disappointment at this latest ruling, saying that it entirely disregarded the principles defended by the European Court of Justice, most recently in a verdict released in early October.
In a 40-page decision, the supreme court explained how it was possible to reconcile EU law with France’s fight against terrorism and serious crime. To this end, it has requested from the government a regular reassessment of the level of threat to national security. It has also demanded a tightening of the rules that guide how intelligence services can gain access to data collected by telecom operators.
