Your mobile phone data and internet activity will now be stored for a year

Eye
Britain sticks it to the EU

All of your phone and internet data will soon be held by telecoms companies for a year, as decided by new emergency legislation to be passed in the UK.

Back in April the European Court of Justice threw out powers that require communication companies to retain data for 12 months. But that's now being reversed in the name of national security.

In an attempt to quell the concerns of NSA-fearers, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the new law would merely overturn this and nothing more.

He also promised that there will be various bodies set up to oversee the process (requests to access anyone's data will have to be signed off by the Home Secretary) and protect people's privacy.

The new legislation will include a termination clause for 2016, so it's a short term initiative and one that may well change beyond that date. But needless to say this news will be unsettling for a lot of people.

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.

Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.