BUSINESSES that provide communications services, such as telecoms and data hosting providers, could be asked to keep ‘vast amounts of data’ about ordinary people on file for investigation purposes, if a change to Jersey law is approved.

Such data could include e-mails and data processed through back-up computers hosted in the Island for disaster recovery purposes.

The amendment to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Law (RIPL) has not yet been lodged with the States but a draft has been circulated to various authorities and the Data Protection Commissioner, Emma Martins, has already posted her response on the States website.

RIPL, dubbed in the UK as the ‘snoopers charter’, came into force in the Island in 2005 but a number of issues were not at the time resolved, including the retention of communications data.

At that time the new law was hotly debated within the e-commerce industry, particularly in relation to the lack of States consultation with service providers.