EU top court rules against states' mass phone data collection

Court does allow for exemptions in cases of "serious threat to national security"

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The EU’s top court on Tuesday put limits on how European spy and security agencies could harvest troves of personal data, but said this could be done when faced with a serious threat to national security.

At the request of the courts in France, Belgium and Britain, the European Court of Justice confirmed that "EU law precludes national legislation" that requires telcos and tech companies to carry out the "indiscriminate retention" of data, a statement said

However, it does allow for exemptions in cases of "serious threat to national security" or the "fight against serious crime", under the supervision of a judge or an independent administrative authority.