The ever-growing complexity of the data retention discussion in the EU: An in-depth review of La Quadrature du Net and others and Privacy International

The data retention discussion in the EU is becoming ever more complex. In La Quadrature du Net and others and Privacy International, the CJEU applied its data retention standards to a wide variety of new facts, including data retention, transmission, and automated analysis, both for law enforcement and national security goals. Moreover, the CJEU identified a diverse range of situations in which EU law permits data retention and similar measures on a general and indiscriminate basis. The two judgments provide new opportunities for large scale data retention but raise novel questions about the scope of EU law over national security issues, and the CJEU’s reasoning is too brief in some respects.