Liberty and security, striking the right balance

This paper provides the UK Presidency rationale for the retention of telecom data for periods over 6 months for the most serious of crimes. This is justified on the basis of UK and Irish practice. The paper stresses that older data is needed for effective investigations; that requests for data must be proportionate;that costs are not excessive for telephony providers; and that data must be stroed securely. Access is governed by national law in line with the Framework Decision which permits police and public authority access for the invesitgation, detection and prosecution of crime.The UK Presidency welcomes the Commission’s intentions on data later in 2005. The paper then advocates biometric ID cards. It argues that these do not infringe civil liberties; that UK law is brought into line with the Data Protection Directive and the ECHR through provisions in the UK’s Data Protection Act 1988 and the Human Rights Act 1998.Justifications for civil and migration purposes are provided with estimates of 175 million people moving around by 2010.The UK eBorders programme is outlined and the paper presents UK views on PNR and CCTV use, both of which it endorses.

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Liberty and security, striking the right balance