(The Hosting News) – No law currently exists that requires Internet providers to keep track of their customers; however the US Justice Department is looking to change that.  Mandatory data retention could be in the future. Following in the footsteps of the previous administration, it appears that the real frustration at hand is the fact that many in law enforcement would like to have this as an extra tool to prosecute and find evidence of illegal activity.

On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice renewed calls on this legislation in question.

The most recent calls for legislation on the topic would mandate that Internet Service Providers would be able to retain certain customer usage data for up to two years.

The current policies require that ISPs only preserve usage data at the request of law enforcement, and for some this is too little and too late.

On the other side of the debate, you have large privacy and freedom of speech concerns.  Some will say that these new laws, if put in place, would presume Americans guilty of a crime before a crime is ever committed.  Also there is a large concern about how much data will be stored.  From websites visited to social network interactions and instant messenger conversations.  There is a lot of traffic to comb though, and sorting it would be a rather difficult process too.

Legal calls for data retention are nothing new.  Previously both the former attorney general Alberto Gonzalez and FBI director Robert Mueller have asked for Congress to consider changing the laws to help law enforcement.

Tags: