The European Court of Justice ruled that in 2013 the Irish police should not have built a murder case based on teledata—information contained in communications devices—because the use of this type of data, according to the ruling, constitutes a violation of the right to privacy.
A source in the Danish police described the situation to TV2 as “catastrophic,” as it could mean that if a young woman is murdered in Aalborg or a shooting occurs in an organized gang environment in Copenhagen tonight, the police will be prevented from using one of their most important investigative tools, teledata.
Danish Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup expressed his regret over the ruling to TV2, saying, “I am very sorry about the European Court of Justice’s decision because it means that in cases of serious crimes such as murder, gang crimes and rape, Danish authorities cannot access traffic data that is recorded generally and undifferentiated to protect national security.”.
According to the source, the authorities' lawyers have not yet finished reading the decision issued by the European Court of Justice, but the situation now is that Danish telecommunications companies cannot hand over teledata data to the police unless the incidents are related to terrorism, for example.
In the Aalborg murder case, where young Mia Skadoj Stevens was killed in February 2022 and her body was later found in a wooded area north of Aalborg, teledata may have been crucial to the murder investigation, as it was in the murder of broadcaster Nadim Yasar in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, in November 2018.
The National Police referred the matter to the Ministry of Justice, and Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup commented on Friday to TV2: “The Ministry of Justice is currently working with the authorities to find a sustainable solution. At the same time, the government will address the issue of access to recorded information for combating serious crime at the EU level. I still believe that the police should have the best possible tools to fight crime.”.
Despite the current situation where the police are prohibited from receiving and using telephone data, telecommunications companies are still required to register “generally and undifferentiated,” so that in a case relating to national security, the police can continue to access the data.
This could be in cases such as the bomb that was detonated in front of the Danish tax office or the terrorist attack in Krudttønden and the Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen.
