"EU law forbids governments compelling private companies to engage in mass surveillance, says EU advocate general", 16 Jan 2020

European Union law prohibits governments from forcing private companies to engage in bulk, indiscriminate surveillance, according to a legal opinion from the advocate general (AG) to the European Court of Justice (CJEU)...

AG Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona determined that the 2002 EU Directive on privacy and electronic communications applies to all situations where governments force telecommunications companies to participate in mass surveillance programmes, in a legal opinion hailed by Privacy International as a “win for privacy”.

The CJEU will be considering several related cases pertaining to the legality of certain mass surveillance regimes in France, Belgium, and the UK later in the year. Although the legal opinion of AG Sánchez-Bordona is not binding on the CJEU, it is likely to be persuasive as his job is to assist the court with independent legal advice.

Privacy International summarises the AG’s advice this way:

• The UK’s collection of bulk communications data violates EU law.
• The French and Belgium data retention schemes also violate EU law...