The Liberal Democrats' European justice spokeswoman Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP raises her concern about the lack of thoruough cost-benefits analysis and other issues concerning the proposed data-retention directive:

...storage of everyone's phone, email and website use is costly as well as a massive invasion of privacy and increase in state surveillance, so the threshold for justification is a high one.

I am still worried by the absence of a serious cost-benefit analysis. Assertions are made about the need to keep records for a considerable time, but the evidence is thin. No decent rebuttal has been delivered of the case for a short retention time plus specific 'freezing orders' for communications records of suspects.

Since we will have the leverage to do so now, MEPs must probe the real necessity for invasive measures. Whilst EU-wide cooperation is crucial to stop terrorism and organised crime, Member States should first end cross-border turf wars and actually implement cooperative arrangements they've signed up to.

For more information on these issues have a look at the ORG, website or my Data - gold or tar? scribble or click the digital wrongs keyword anywhere you see it on this website.