Germany’s Federal Court of Justice [official website] ruled [press release, in German] Tuesday that government websites can store personal data as long as they provide adequate justification. Patrick Beyer sued the German government over the storing of IP addresses, which he believed to be in violation of data protection laws. The Federal Court of Justice presented the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg which gave [press release] its decision in October of 2016. The ICJ ruled similarly to the Federal Court in that the data collection did not violate law. The court stated that is the storing of an IP address can be legal if the operator of the website has a “legitimate interest” to do so.

Privacy on the internet remains a prominent issue around the world. In the United States, President Donald Trump in April officially repealed [JURIST report] internet privacy regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission during the end of former president Barrack Obama’s term. This decision made it no longer necessary for providers to seek consumer consent before sharing or selling their private information. JURIST guest columnist Andreas Kuersten discusses the recent trend of governments selling personal data [JURIST op-ed] to without their consent.