European Court to decide on traceability of communications

The European Court of Human Rights is to decide on the complaint of a victim of identity theft (Application Number 2872/02).

In 1999, an unidentified person published an advertisement for a homosexual relationship under the name of the applicant, a then 12 year old boy. The offender was not prosecuted because national law limited access to IP addresses to serious crime.

The applicant is complaining before the European Court of Human Rights that he had not had an effective remedy under national law to discover the identity of the perpetrator. On 27 June 2006 the Court ruled the complaint to be admissible as it raised serious issues of fact and law under the Convention and was not manifestly ill-founded.

An amicus curiae brief has now been submitted to the Court, pointing out that the outcome of the case could have far-reaching effects on the privacy of all European Internet users. A ruling requiring Contracting States to provide for the traceability of communications would have very serious consequences on user privacy.

According to the brief, freedom of expression on the Internet is protected under Article 10 of the Convention. The privacy of communications is protected under Article 8 of the Convention. „Considering the importance of those freedoms and the…