D11.2: Mobility and LBS

Title: STORAGE AND RETENTION OF RELEVANT DATA

Storage and retention of relevant data

The location data used for the provision of a Location Based Service shall be processed only to the extent and for the duration necessary for the provision of the service. After that they should be deleted or made anonymous. Traffic data relating to subscribers and users processed and stored by the provider of a public communications network or publicly available electronic communications service must be erased or made anonymous when they are no longer needed for the purpose of the transmission of a communication. However the aforementioned providers may process traffic data for the provision of value added services, if the subscriber or user to whom the data relate has given his prior consent. A highly debated issue is how the prior given consent can be expressed. ‘Some form of communication whereby the individual knowingly indicates consent’ (opt-in) is essential.

Additionally to these provisions the European Union adopted a directive in 2006 that asks for the retention of specific types of traffic and location data in order to ensure that they are available for the purpose of the investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crime; the directive on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and amending Directive 2002/58/EC (hereinafter ‘data retention directive’). Every Member State can choose to retain these data for periods of not less than six months and not more than two years from the date of the communication.

The data retention directive includes a list of traffic and location data, some of which are relevant to Location Based Services and shall be retained after the provision of the service for the competent national authorities to access for law enforcement purposes. Such data can be data necessary to trace and identify the initiator of the Location Based Service and the recipient (in case of Services that include a recipient, such as the Find a Friend service), the data revealing the date and time of the start and the end of the service and the data necessary to identify the type of communication and the location of the mobile communication equipment.