German High Court Restricts E-mail and Phone Data Retention

This could prove interesting--I'm sure it will come up again.

"The government's commissioner for data protection and freedom of information needed to be included in the process of controlling the use of the data, it said. The information could only be used in secret "if that is necessary in individual cases and ordered by a judge," Papier said.

The ruling follows a warning by the government that private sector Internet companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft need to be more transparent about the personal data they store on Web users."