We here in the States cheer or jeer the essentially cosmetic 'reform' of the massive, and formerly secret, spying done on the people by the NSA and the other 15 state agencies involved in 'top secret stuff' (16 in total that we know about, at least.)
Meanwhile this kind of MetaData collection-- and that's all you need to know any given person's daily life in great detail, and a base for pulling the literal details of that life -- has been done in the open in Europe for years.
Today, the EU high court struck down the 'directive' which allowed such data collection.
EU high court strikes down metadata collection law
Citizens made to feel that they "are the subject of constant surveillance."
says the headline at '
ars technica'
They quote the ruling:
The Court takes the view that, by requiring the retention of those data and by allowing the competent national authorities to access those data, the directive interferes in a particularly serious manner with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data. Furthermore, the fact that data are retained and subsequently used without the subscriber or registered user being informed is likely to generate in the persons concerned a feeling that their private lives are the subject of constant surveillance.
. . .
Although the retention of data required by the directive may be considered to be appropriate for attaining the objective pursued by it, the wide-ranging and particularly serious interference of the directive with the fundamental rights at issue is not sufficiently circumscribed to ensure that that interference is actually limited to what is strictly necessary.
Naturally, privacy and electronic privacy groups (and I'd imagine human beings) are thrilled. As Ars Technica quotes one activist "The Court says basically that the fight against crime and terrorism, although important, doesn’t trump privacy rights.”
Sounds pretty respectful of human rights to me.