EU Orders Europol To Delete Data on Citizens Who Have Not Committed Crimes

Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU), has been ordered to delete its massive database of information on EU citizens that it collected in recent years if the agency did not link subjects to any ongoing criminal activity. From a report: The decision was announced today by the European Data Protection Supervisor, an EU-independent supervisory authority whose primary objective is to monitor and ensure that European institutions and bodies respect the right to privacy and data protection. The EDPS said that Europol has one year to comply with its decision, during which time the law enforcement agency must filter its database and delete any information on EU citizens that are not part of criminal investigations. Europol will be allowed to process personal information as part of investigations, but the data on those not linked to crimes must be erased after six months. "This means that Europol will no longer be permitted to retain data about people who have not been linked to a crime or a criminal activity for long periods with no set deadline," the EDPS said in a press release on Monday.

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