The National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) does not give a positive opinion to the Government’s proposal to regulate access to metadata related to electronic communications, after the Constitutional Court declared the regulations illegal, according to Público.
In an opinion approved last week, which will be delivered to Parliament, the CNPD considers that there is, in the law now approved, “a marked reduction in the guarantees of the fundamental rights of citizens, compared to the previous legal regime.” The document even speaks of a “stifling web of fundamental rights and freedoms.”
The law required telecommunications operators to keep, for one year, records of electronic communications, such as the location of mobile phones or the time of the call, among others. The Constitutional Court deemed the rule illegal, so it was scrapped, which, as the Observer wrote, could jeopardize thousands of cases, namely those related to MB Way fraud.
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Also, with the new law, there is no longer a database for criminal investigations, and it can only be used by base authorities for billing purposes (for example, to dispute a certain payment).
One of the criticisms of the CNPD is the fact that the metadata, for billing purposes, can be accessed by the Public Ministry and the police without the need to be accompanied by an order from an investigating judge -which in the old law attested that the access requirements were met.
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“The lack of foresight of control by the investigating judge of access to such data has direct impact on these fundamental rights and represents a setback in their protection”, it is read. The Commission also criticizes that the proposal allows the use of metadata for crimes committed by computer means with a prison sentence equal to or greater than one year, a situation that extends what was foreseen in the previous law.
With a negative assessment by the CNPD, the data that operators can keep for billing purposes, such as internet access data, is also extended, compared to the previous law. The Commission also considers that all citizens whose metadata is requested receive a notification, as well as all the people with whom they have communicated or tried to contact.
The Bar Association had also already expressed reservations about the Government’s proposal and doubts that it respects the “fundamental law” and the “European Union Law”.
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Source: Observadora
