Google, Facebook to protest French data-retention law

Google and Facebook are among a group of companies that are planning to file a complaint with France's State Council, the country's highest judicial body, against a local law that mandates these companies retain users' personal data for a year.

According to a BBC report on Wednesday, the directive, which was passed in early March, requires e-commerce sites and those offering services such as videos, music and email services to keep a range of their users' personal information, including full names, postal addresses, email addresses and passwords. Such data will need to be handed to French authorities, including the police, tax and social security agencies, when requested.

Apart from Google and Facebook, over 20 web companies with operations in France, including eBay and Dailymotion, will be involved in the State Council case, according to their representative the French Association of Internet Community Services (ASIC).

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Major Web players take France to court on ZDNet Asia.