Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis promulgated on Friday, October 9, the so called “Big Brother” law, which allows national security and defense institutions to have quick access to the identification data of telecom operators’ customers.

The law was adopted at the end of September by the Chamber of Deputies. It will enter into force if no one challenges it at the Constitutional Court.

Fixed and mobile telephony and Internet service suppliers need to retain their customers’ data for six months, to be sent, upon request, to national security authorities, according to the “Big Brother” law. Telecom operators need to offer the requested data to national security or prosecution institutions, if these have the prior permission of the judge, in maximum 48 hours.

The law was launched for debate last year, but the Constitutional Court decided in the summer of 2014 that the bill was unconstitutional, so it didn’t go through. However, following the Charlie Hebdo attacks at the beginning of this year, directors of the national security services decided to put the law back on the Parliament’s agenda.

editor@romania-insider.com