MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The bill requires that companies retain data on the time and location at which a phone call or message was made or sent, as well as the recipients. Phone numbers and computer addresses will be saved for 10 weeks while the locations of the conversation participants will be retained for a month.
According to the local Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, the draft was supported by 404 members of the German parliament, while 148 lawmakers, mainly from the Left Party and the Greens, opposed it.
The bill was passed despite opposition from digital rights activists, hundreds of whom gathered in front of the parliament in an attempt to persuade lawmakers to change their minds before voting.
Earlier this year, a major spying scandal gripped Germany, raising concerns about the security of personal data, as German media revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been using a German Federal Intelligence Service's (BND) listening post in southern Bavaria to illegally eavesdrop on EU citizens, governments and companies.
