Digital Rights Ireland, the Irish activist group that works to uphold liberty in the technological sphere, is suing the Irish government to overturn an EU directive that requires government to spy on citizens. If they win, it could overturn the law in every EU nation!
"These laws require telephone companies and internet service providers to spy on all customers, logging their movements, their telephone calls, their emails, and their internet access, and to store that information for up to three years. This information can then be accessed without any court order or other adequate safeguard. We believe that this is a breach of fundamental rights. We have written to the Government raising our concerns but, as they have failed to take any action, we are now forced to start legal proceedings."
"Accordingly, we have now launched a legal challenge to the Irish government's power to pass these laws. We say that it is contrary to the Irish Constitution as well as Irish and European Data Protection laws."
"We also challenge the claim that the European Commission and Parliament had the power to enact the Data Retention Directive. We say that this kind of mass surveillance is a breach of Human Rights, as recognised in the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights which all EU member states have endorsed."
