The EDPS ordered the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation to delete data on individuals without an established link to criminal activity that had been stored for more than six months. Europol indicated that the EDPS’s decision would affect Europol’s ability to analyse complex and large data sets at the request of EU law enforcement authorities. The data collected in these files belong to EU Member States and operational partners. They are provided to the Agency in connection with investigations related to terrorist threats, cybercrime, international drug trafficking and child abuse. In addition, Europol has reported that its work often spans more than six months, as do the investigations it supports. Some of Europol’s most notable cases in recent years illustrate this. Europol intends to evaluate the EDPS’s decision and assess its potential consequences for ongoing investigations and its impact on the security of the Union’s citizens.
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