Mass collection of personal communications data
According to Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), in Lithuania in 2019, telecommunications companies were legally required to collect and store users’ personal communications data. This included information about who sent and received a message or phone call, as well as the time, date and duration of such communications. Law enforcement agencies were then able to access the data stored by telecommunications companies, violating users’ right to privacy. This law remained in place despite the Court of Justice of the EU ruling in 2014 and 2016 that this practice is illegal because it enables mass surveillance.
HRMI were aiming to have the Lithuanian data law struck down to end the mass collection of personal communications data by telecommunications companies. However, the project was ended early before starting litigation.
Mass collection of personal communications data
Organisation Name
Human Rights Monitoring Institute
Country/Jurisdiction
Lithuania
Grant Amount
EUR 4,997
Current Status
Project complete – ended early before litigation
Image credit: Photo by indra projects on Pexels
Grant type
Single Instance Litigation Support
Description
According to Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), in Lithuania in 2019, telecommunications companies were legally required to collect and store users’ personal communications data. This included information about who sent and received a message or phone call, as well as the time, date and duration of such communications. Law enforcement agencies were then able to access the data stored by telecommunications companies, violating users’ right to privacy. This law remained in place despite the Court of Justice of the EU ruling in 2014 and 2016 that this practice is illegal because it enables mass surveillance.
HRMI were aiming to have the Lithuanian data law struck down to end the mass collection of personal communications data by telecommunications companies. However, the project was ended early before starting litigation.
"Law enforcement agencies were then able to access the data stored by telecommunications companies, violating users' right to privacy"
Strategic Goals
To spur public debate on data protection as a fundamental right of every person in the context on mass data collection and increase the public’s opposition to mass collection of personal data.
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