The justice ministry of the Netherlands has given all ISPs until April 2001 to comply with a telecoms law of 1998 that requires them to install equipment which will separate, channel and translate data to assist in the investigation of crime.
According to the Association of Dutch Internet Providers (NLIP), ISPs will need to increase their prices by 25% to compensate for their anticipated equipment outlays of between 500,000 guilders (£139,160) and 1.5 million guilders (£417,315).
In the UK, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act was passed this year and provides that an ISP can be ordered to assist with monitoring for the purposes of a criminal investigation. However, the requirement does not automatically cover all ISPs in the UK; it only applies to those that receive such an order.
In Germany, Werner Kessel, a state commissioner for data protection, has spoken out on behalf of 15 of Germany’s 16 data protection commissioners against an appeal by government ministers to combat on-line crime in which the ministers say it is “urgently necessary to require providers to register and store the ‘digital footprints’ that every internet user leaves behind”. In a statement, the commissioners describe the proposal as unnecessary, disproportionate and unconstitutional.