The British House of Commons approved a fast-track...

The British House of Commons approved a fast-track timetable for data retention legislation by a 436-49 vote Tuesday, according to the Parliament’s website (http://bit.ly/1sV2ZqO). A vote is expected later this week on the measure, the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers (DRIP) Bill, said Privacy International in a Tuesday release (http://bit.ly/1jMAATG). DRIP (http://bit.ly/1qDNt0Z) would require British telecom companies to retain customer data for 12 months and codify who can access the data under what circumstances. The bill would replace the data retention directive recently struck down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Privacy advocates have maintained the bill does not address the civil rights implications the ECJ cited in abolishing the European Union’s directive, and called on Parliament to have a more extensive discussion before passing any legislation (CD July 14 p15).