Last week’s London bombings intensified debate over the need for ...

ministers to discuss a “response to the terrorist threat.” He’s expected to push a controversial proposal to require retention of communications traffic data. In June, ministers provisionally backed the proposal, which is opposed strongly by the European Commission, communications services providers and civil libertarians. The proposal would impose a standard holding period of 12 months, leaving member states free to allow retention for 6-48 months, a Home Office spokeswoman said. The move would have scant impact in the U.K., where ISPs, under a voluntary code, routinely hold some subscriber data up to a year, the spokeswoman said. Authorities want data held because phone and Internet traffic information often has proven essential to criminal investigations, the spokeswoman said. Mobile phone records were critical to finding those accused of the March 2003 Madrid bombing and a high-profile U.K. child murder. The U.K., which now holds the European presidency -- and which was one of 4 countries that originally sought a data retention directive -- has concerns about a patchwork of national data retention laws, she said. After the July 7 blasts, ISPs contacted the Home Office to offer practical assistance, said the Internet Services Providers’ Assn. (ISPA) U.K. The National High Tech Crime Unit asked ISPA members to preserve data now on their systems, including content of e-mail servers, e-mail server logs and pager, SMS and MMS messages on network platforms, plus call data for fixed, mobile and VoIP. ISPA said it will encourage members to “focus on endeavors that will be effective in combatting terrorism,” but added that keeping data of no use to criminal investigations “will make the extraction of vital evidence even harder.”