EU judges hit Theresa May's 'snoopers' charter'

Theresa May's "snoopers' charter" has suffered a blow after the EU's highest court ruled governments cannot impose blanket monitoring of their citizens' electronic communications.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said today that "general and indiscriminate retention" of emails and other electronic data is illegal.

Only targeted interception of traffic and location data is justified - and only then in order to combat terrorism and serious crime, it added.

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The Daily Telegraph says the decision is a "major setback" for the Prime Minister, who has been pushing the controversial Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) or "snoopers' charter", while The Independent calls it "an embarrassment".

The IPA, which is set to come into place at the end of this month, forces internet and communications companies to retain their customers' histories for up to a year and allow UK intelligence agencies to blanket collect data and hack into electronic devices.

Privacy groups have vociferously opposed the bill, arguing it represents a draconian extension of existing surveillance powers.

The ECJ's ruling, which is intended to clarify the EU's position on surveillance, was made in response to the 2014 UK Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA) - a proposal subsequently blocked by the Liberal Democrats under the coalition government.

However, many of its measures are now included in the IPA and will therefore be in breach of the ECJ's ruling.

The Telegraph reports the ruling means the government may have to radically cut the legislation's reach. It could also substantially decrease the number of public bodies that can access the stored data, which currently includes organisations ranging from the Food Standards Agency to HMRC.

However, The Guardian says Brexit could render the ECJ's decision "academic" since the court will have no jurisdiction over the UK once the country leaves the EU.