03/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 2 March 2010, Germany's constitutional court criticised the law authorising the keeping for six months of information given by telephone or online that is used in criminal investigations, arguing that the law transposing a 2006 EU counter-terror directive (see EUROPE 9136) is a serious violation of privacy laws. Germany's court has not challenged the need for an EU directive, pointing out that the problem arises when the directive in question is transposed into the German legal system. German Green MEP Jan-Philipp Albrecht immediately called for a debate to be held about the EU data storage directive, saying that the EU must move from data storage based on generalised suspicion to a policy focussed on clearly identified facts and legally justified cases. He added that the PNR and Swift dossiers would be the next big battles. (B.C./transl.fl)