Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Act 2022

Amendment of section 1(1) of Principal Act

2. Section 1(1) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “user”:

“‘user’ means a person who is using an electronic communications service or other means of electronic communication, for private or other purposes—

(a) whether or not that electronic communications service or other means of electronic communication is publicly available, and

(b) whether or not that person has subscribed to the service;”,

and

(b) by the deletion of the definition of “disclosure request”; and

(c) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“‘authorising judge’ means a judge of the District Court designated under section 12J(1);

‘disclosure requirement’ means a requirement made of a service provider under section 6, 6F, 7C or 7D;

‘electronic communications network’ means transmission systems and, where applicable—

(a) switching equipment or routing equipment, and

(b) other resources,

including network elements which are not active, which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, by radio, by optical or by other electromagnetic means, and such conveyance includes the use of—

(i) satellite networks,

(ii) fixed terrestrial networks (both circuit-switched and packet-switched, including internet),

(iii) mobile terrestrial networks,

(iv) electricity cable systems to the extent that they are used for the purpose of transmitting signals,

(v) networks used for either or both radio and television broadcasting, and

(vi) cable television networks,

irrespective of the type of information conveyed;

‘electronic communications service’ means a service normally provided for remuneration which consists wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals on electronic communications networks, including telecommunications services, publicly available telephone services and transmission services in networks used for broadcasting, but does not include—

(a) services providing, or exercising editorial control over, content transmitted using electronic communications networks and services, and

(b) information society services within the meaning of Article 1 (inserted by Directive 98/48/EC of 20 July 19981 ) of Directive 98/34/EC of 22 June 19982 which do not consist wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals on electronic communications networks;

‘internet source data’ means the following data necessary to trace and identify the source of a communication by internet access, internet email or internet telephony:

(a) the Internet Protocol (IP) address, whether dynamic or static, allocated by the service provider to the source of a communication;

(b) the name and address of the subscriber or registered user to whom an Internet Protocol (IP) address was allocated at the time of the communication;

‘Schedule 2 data’ means the categories of data specified in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 2;

‘superior officer’ means—

(a) in relation to a member of the Garda Síochána, a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of superintendent;

(b) in relation to a member of the Permanent Defence Force, a member of the Permanent Defence Force not below the rank of lieutenant colonel;

(c) in relation to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners not below the rank of principal officer;

(d) in relation to an officer of the Competition and Consumer Protection Authority, an officer of the Competition and Consumer Protection Authority not below the rank of principal officer;

‘user data’ means the following types of data and any other types of data set out in technical specification ETSI TS 103 280 ‘Lawful Interception (LI): dictionary for common parameters’ issued by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute that are relevant to these data:

(a) the name of the user;

(b) the address of the user;

(c) where applicable, the following data in respect of the user:

(i) the mobile telephony number;

(ii) the fixed network telephony number;

(iii) the International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI);

(iv) the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI);

(v) the Internet Protocol (IP) address, whether dynamic or static, allocated by the internet access service to the communication;

(vi) the user ID;

(vii) the date and time of initial activation of an electronic communications service or other means of communication;

(viii) the date and time of the last outgoing mobile telephony or fixed network telephony communication;”.

1 O.J. No. L 217, 05.08.1998, p.18

2 O.J. No. L 204, 21.07.1998, p.37