CHAPTER 9: LAW ENFORCEMENT
difficulties in July 2014, though with a sunset clause to require further consideration.23
It has the strong support of law enforcement.
9.44.
In 9.21-9.32 above, I explained why the police and CPS consider communications
data in general to be essential for the fight against crime. The specific role of retained
data in investigations into sexual offences, terrorism, drugs, homicide, firearms and
explosives is explained at Annex 10 to this Report.
9.45.
The police and CPS make three other points in this regard:
9.46.
(a)
Conspirators become more guarded in their use of communications as the
moment of a crime approaches. Older data may therefore be the best evidence
against them.
(b)
It may be relatively easy to arrest the minor players in a drugs importation or
smuggling ring. But by going through their historic communications data, it may
become possible to trace the bigger players who have taken care to remain in
the background.
(c)
A time lapse between the incident and the identification of a suspect will mean
that old data is needed.
Data retention is also seen as an imperative by law enforcement outside the UK. In
a presentation to the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and
Home Affairs last year, the Director of Europol, said that “without data retention law
the police will not be able to catch criminals harming our society”, adding:
“Ask yourself what the end of data retention would mean in concrete terms? It
would mean that communication data that could have solved a murder or
exonerate a suspect is simply deleted and no longer available.”24
9.47.
DG Home at the European Commission has drawn attention to the negative
consequences for law enforcement in countries such as Germany and the Czech
Republic where data retention has ended.25 As the Commission noted in 2014:
“Member States have generally reported that retained data is very valuable,
and in some cases indispensable, for preventing and combating crime, for
protecting victims and for the acquittal of the innocent in criminal cases.
...
Data retention enables the construction of trails of evidence leading up to an
offence. It also helps to discern or corroborate other forms of evidence on the
activities of and links between suspects and victims. In the absence of forensic
23
24
25
The maximum period is set at 12 months under DRIPA 2014 s1(5).
R. Wainwright, Presentation to European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home
Affairs, 11 November 2014.
DG Home European Commission, Evidence for necessity of data retention in the EU, (March 2013)
which can be accessed at:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/pdf/policies/police_cooperation/evidence_en.pdf.
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