frmolloy

It’s been reported this morning that the family of murdered priest Fr Niall Molloy have asked Justice Minister Alan Shatter to clarify if any garda phone calls relating to the unsolved murder in 1985 were recorded.

In the Irish Daily Mail (not available online), Maresa Fagan reports:

“The family of Fr Molloy have expressed concern over the possible recording of calls between family members or their lawyers and gardaí over the past 28 years. Bill Maher, a nephew of Fr Molloy, has contacted Mr Shatter to seek clarification on whether gardaí are holding recordings of any such conversations related to the killing in Clara, Co. Offaly, in July 1985. Mr Maher has also requested that any such recordings from 1985 onwards, or more recently since the Fr Molloy cold case was re-opened, be furnished to the family.”

Previously: When He Was In Justice

ecjdigital

[From top: The European Court of Justice in Kirchberg, Luxembourg and Digital
Rights Ireland logo]

In 2006, Digital Rights Ireland took a case against in the State, challenging the legality of the retention of data by phone companies and internet service providers.

DRI argued that laws which require ISPs and mobile phone companies to log details about a person’s location, text messages, emails, internet use and to store that information for up to two years is a breach of the right to privacy. This information didn’t include the content but rather the matter of who called who, when and for how long; where a person was at a given time (via a mobile), who emailed or texted and when.

In 2012, the High Court referred the case to the European Court of Justice for an opinion on the validity of the EU data-retention directive (2006/24/EC).

Today, the ECJ found the directive invalid, stating:

“…entails a wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data” and that it “entails an interference with the fundamental rights of practically the entire European population”.

And:

“The fact that data are retained and subsequently used without the subscriber or registered user being informed is likely to generate in the persons concerned a feeling that their private lives are the subject of constant surveillance.”

In a statement TJ McIntyre, Chairman of DRI,  said:

“This is the first assessment of mass surveillance by a supreme court since the Snowden revelations. The ECJ’s judgement finds that untargeted monitoring of the entire population is unacceptable in a democratic society.”

McGarr Solicitors, who represent Digital Rights Ireland, said:

“This case is a profound statement of European values by Europe’s top court. The court has rejected the principle of mass surveillance of EU citizens without suspicion as incompatible with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It will be up to individual member states to now ensure their domestic law is in compliance with the ECJ’s judgment.”

Read full text of the judgement here

Digital Rights Ireland

European court declares data retention directive invalid (Irish Times)

Related: Tomorrow’s ECJ judgement Q&A

Previously: Fight For Your Digital Rights

G’wan De Digital Rights

Thanks Eoin

Broadsheet.ie