Title: .A. TRAFFIC DATA

The level of protection accorded to a natural or legal person’s traffic data depends on the purpose of the processing: (1) transmission of communication, (2) billing and (3) marketing of electronic communication as well as providing of value added services, e.g., tourist information, route guidance, traffic information and weather forecasts.

1. For the purpose of the transmission of a communication, traffic data relating to subscribers and users may be processed and stored by the service or network provider but must be erased or made anonymous when it is no longer needed for the purpose of the transmission (article 6.1.). The obligation to erase or anonymise traffic data does not conflict with procedures such as caching or using login information for access control (considerans 28).

2. Traffic data, necessary for the purposes of subscriber billing and interconnection payments, may be processed and stored up to the end of the period during which the bill may lawfully be challenged or payment pursued (article 6.2.).

3. Traffic data, necessary for the purpose of marketing electronic communications services or for the provision of value added services, may be processed by the service provider to the extent and for the duration necessary for such marketing or services, if the subscriber or user to whom the data relate, has given his consent after he has been informed about the type of traffic data processed, the purposes and the duration of the processing. Users/subscribers shall be given the possibility to withdraw their consent for the processing of traffic data at any time (article 6.3.).

In any of these cases, processing of traffic data must be restricted to what is necessary for the purposes of such activities and must be restricted to persons acting under the authority of the network or service provider. In any of these cases, if data are processed for a longer time than for the transmission, the user or subscriber must be informed of the duration of such processing.