UK high court rules data collection legislation unlawful.

• Position: RETENTION - Brief article

The UK High Court has ruled that the government's Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA) is "inconsistent with EU law."

The legislation, which was rushed through by the coalition government last year, requires Internet and phone companies to keep their communications data for a year and governs how police and intelligence agencies can access it.

Parliament members Tom Watson (Labour) and David Davis (Conservative) challenged the law, arguing that its data collection methods are too expansive and not limited to cases involving serious crime as the law required.

The Guardian reported that judges found two big problems with the law:

1. It does not provide for independent court or judicial scrutiny to ensure that only data deemed "strictly necessary" is examined.

2. There is no definition of what constitutes "serious offenses" in relation to which material can be investigated.

However, despite ruling that the act should be "disapplied," the judges decided to suspend that...