Romanian Constitutional Court holds data retention unconstitutional
Yesterday the Romanian Constitutional Court held – for the second time – that a national data retention law is unconstitutional (official press release, Romanian only). The ruling follows a 2009 decision of the Constitutional Court striking down an earlier law implementing the Data Retention Directive. That was then replaced with a similar law in 2012 and yesterday’s decision finds the 2012 law is also unconstitutional.
This is great news for privacy campaigners throughout Europe. It comes just a fortnight after a similar decision from the Austrian Constitutional Court and continues the trend of national constitutional courts following our decision from the European Court of Justice and rejecting mass surveillance laws. We look forward to the High Court in Dublin reaching the same conclusion.
