Today the European Court of Justice issued a ruling on EU data retention laws, confirming that they are invalid. The decision is a validation of the Green position on fundamental privacy rights in the digital age. The Greens have fought alongside civil-rights advocates for years, to protect individual rights. We strongly opposed the extensive and unjustified collection and retention of telecommunications data in the EU.

Commenting on the ruling, Green leading candidate Ska Keller said, “the verdict is a major victory for civil rights in Europe! It confirms that we had the right on our side during all the years of struggling against data retention. We Greens will continue to fight for digital rights including the protection of personal data and strict net neutrality.”

Earlier this year, a majority of MEPs voted in favour of a report by Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht to force the issue to the front of the EU's agenda. MEPs in the next European Parliament now have a solid position to work from, to reassert the rights of people across Europe. European citizens should be entitled to their privacy and it must be respected. 

Today’s ruling finds that current EU rules constitute 'a wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data, without that interference being limited to what is strictly necessary.'

Further information on the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union can be found here.