ID cards in Greece and Data Retention in Telecommunications

According to Law 1599/1986, the greek identity cards are issued by the Police Authorities after the interested party has submitted an application along with a series of supporting documents and four photos.The applicant's data on the application are verified by a witness.
The Directive concerning the retention of data drawn from telephone conversations and the use of internet, aiming to eliminate terrorism, reached a majority from the European Parliament. However, some countries raised objections that there could be an abusive use of the data retention systemby national authorities.
As soon as the Directive will be adopted, all the telecommunications companies will have the obligation to save data concerning the activities of their clients. In particular, the source and the recipient of every phone call, sms and e-mail, along with their precise time, but not their contents.
According to the Greek Minister of Justice, the details concening the type of crimes and the exact time of data retention will be regulated nationally.

With the contribution of Maroula.