Swedish authorities won’t go after ISP that erased all its metadata

The Swedish authorities won’t take action against an ISP that erased all retained communications metadata, even though there is still a law in place compelling providers to retain such data, the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) said Friday. Swedish ISP Bahnhof decided earlier this week to delete retained records and stop collecting data about its customers’ communications in the wake of a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). On Tuesday, the court invalidated the EU’s Data Retention Directive that requires telecommunications and Internet providers to retain their customer’s location and traffic data for investigatory purposes. It found that the directive seriously interferes with fundamental privacy rights. Sweden, like other EU member states, has transposed the directive into national law.