Romanian Telecom Data To Be Recorded Come Wednesday, Norms Pending

"According to article 22 of Law 298/2008 on the recording of data, the methodological norms for application will be developed within 30 days from the coming into force of the law (60 days since publication in the Official Gazette, respectively January 21, 2009) and will be subject to Government approval. The methodological norms developed by the Ministry of Communications target the obligations of service suppliers and public electronic communication networks," said a press release issued Tuesday by the ministry.

 

According to Law 298/2008, communication companies are obligated, as of Wednesday, to apply the legislative proposals on the storage of certain data on calls, short messages and emails, information that can be accessed by the Ministry of Interior, prosecutors, Romanian Intelligence Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service, on request.

 

Data will be stored electronically in a database, which will be created and managed by the operators at their own expense, as well as by internet service suppliers.

 

The spending brought by the creation and management of the database will be tax deductible.

 

The categories of data stored target the tracking and identification of the communication source, as well as the destination, the communication support and the user’s communication equipment or the devices used as equipment, as well as the location of the mobile communications equipment.

 

In addition, the operator will store the data necessary to determine the date, time and duration of the communication.

 

The normative act will not apply to the contents of the communication or information consulted during the use of an electronic communications network.

 

Data will only be transmitted once criminal investigations have been initiated, with the authorization of the court and the request of the prosecutor unfolding or overseeing the criminal investigations.

 

The National Authority for the Oversight of Personal Data Processing will be the watchdog for Law 298/2008.

 

The Romanian mobile telephony market includes Orange Romania – 10.2 million clients, Vodafone Romania – 9.5 million users, Cosmote Romania – 5.2 million clients, RCS&RDS – 1.2 million subscribers (October 2008) and Telemobil – some 500,000 (at the end of June 2007). The largest fixed telephony operators are Romtelecom, UPC Romania and RCS&RDS.