In two judgments, the Digital Rights Ireland case (2014) and the Tele-2/Watson decision (2016), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) reaffirmed the requirement that all data retention regimes must comply with the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality.

The Data retention legislation in Europe page lists how the national members states have reacted to the 2014 decision and if there is a constitutional complaint on the national data retention laws. The basic standard laid down by the CJEU is not adhered to by most EU member states, despite their legal obligation to comply with the Court’s jurisprudence.

Raw magic crackled from their spines, earthing itself harmlessly in the copper rails nailed to every shelf for that very purpose. Faint traceries of blue fire crawled across the bookcases and there was a sound, a papery whispering, such as might come from a colony of roosting starlings. In the silence of the night the books talked to one another. A student