Retention obligation
Also called: data retention guideline
A retention obligation is an obligation imposed by law to keep certain data for a set period of time.
Telecommunications data retention law
The Telecommunications Data Retention Act requires Internet service providers and telecom providers to retain data on Internet and telephone use for six to 12 months. This data can be requested by investigative agencies to enforce the law and combat terrorism. The law follows the European data retention directive.
The start time, end time and the telephone numbers, names and addresses of the users involved, as well as the network location, must be recorded of all telephone calls for one year. E-mail traffic and surfing behavior should be kept for six months.
Of emails, the date, time and email addresses of the sender and recipients must be stored. Of Internet sessions, the start date and time, end date and time and the user's IP address should be recorded.
The content of phone calls, emails and Internet traffic need not be stored.
The law is not uncontroversial. The systematic storage of usage data may violate customer privacy. In addition, providers run the risk of data being out in the streets. They face not only the cost of storing this data, but also very stringent security.
Other forms of retention requirements
Other information may also be subject to retention requirements. For example, businesses must keep records on file for seven years. For property deductions, this period is as long as 10 years.
