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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 SEPTEMBER 2018 10 September, 2008 Police granted new powers to seize personal data Government has enacted new regulations that will bind service providers to give the police and security services personal data held by fixed and mobile telephony companies and Internet ser- vice providers. Published as a legal notice under the Data Protection Act, the amendments make it pos- sible for police to request, process and retain location data in their investigation of "serious crimes". Such data includes incoming and outgoing telephone numbers, subscribers' details, Inter- net protocol addresses, log-in and log-out times of Internet access and email services, and loca- tion data identifying the geographic location of mobile phones. The latter data was the subject of a legal wran- gle between mobile phone operators and the police, when both Vodafone and Go Mobile had turned down police detectives' requests to ac- cess location data as part of their investigations into the string of arson attacks on journalists' residences. Legal notice 198 even gives the power to police to request personal data orally in urgent cases, stating that service providers have to provide the data "without undue delay". Police sources have told MaltaToday that its legal unit already had the power, mandated by the Criminal Code, to ask for this information from service providers. The only type of query that needed a Court's judicial review – an effec- tive warrant – was if this was a 'fishing expedi- tion' that did not focus on a specific investiga- tion or specific individuals under reasonable suspicion. The new rules also provide for data conserva- tion orders – which force companies to retain data for periods up to two years – in line with the EU's controversial data retention directive. The legislation, which the EU says is necessary to help fight terrorism and organised crime, was passed by justice ministers in Brussels to force Internet service providers and fixed-line and mobile operators to keep details of their cus- tomers' communications for up to two years. But Malta's rules allow the retention of data for any investigation that constitutes "serious crime" – which is defined as anything that could lead to imprisonment of over one year. Information including the date, destination and duration of communications will be stored, although the content of such communications will not be recorded. Critics of data retention law in Europe simply fear that police are gaining access to data which allows them to build a historical databank of information that can literally draw up an elec- tronic map of people's lives. MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week Road-widening is a stop-gap measure IN a country as small as Malta, any develop- ment that eats into open spaces is understand- ably a cause of instant controversy. Public opposition to large-scale roadworks projects – because they take up agricultural land, or remove trees, or reduce space for pedestri- ans – represent a belated national cognisance of an issue that environmentalists have been warning about for years. Malta cannot keep responding to its logistical challenges by throwing construction and development at the problem. A time will eventually come when there is simply no further open space to eat into. And yet, road-widening projects which come at an environmental cost cannot be so easily dismissed off-hand, if they also result in air quality improvements thanks to decrease in traffic congestion. Some sort of trade-off may be inevitable – not unlike the balance between clutch and accelerator in a car – but we must also remember that there is also the brake ped- al. Above all, we should refrain from thinking of these projects as a quick-fix solution. They are, at best, a stop-gap measure. One also notes that, in the past, attention had been focused on land-consuming but not altogether necessary projects like the widen- ing of the Coast Road and the CHOGM road in Ghajn Tuffieha. With the exception of the Kappara project initiated in 2012, critical junctions were largely left unaddressed, while Malta lost precious decades in devising mass transit systems: while the bus reform was not only botched by under-investment but also overtaken by further increases in road traffic which undermined its reliability during traffic rush hours. Clearly, some projects have resulted in an easing of traffic congestion: even if, in the absence of any reduction to traffic itself, it is unclear whether such road projects end up simply pushing traffic from one area to an- other. Eliminating one bottleneck may well end up creating others further down the road. For example, preliminary studies related to the Central Link Project envisage an improve- ment in air quality in the area of Triq l-Imdina junction with Triq iż-Żagħfran, to the junction with Triq in-Nutar Zarb, due to the likely re- duction in traffic on this part of the route. But experts warn that in the areas adjoining Triq Oliver Agius, Triq Ferdinandu Inglott and Triq Tumas Chetcuti, the same project may result in a deterioration in air quality given the increased traffic in this area owing to the new bypass. These questions become more urgent when one considers that agricultural land in Malta is in short supply, and that Constitutional pro- visos exist to protect it from all but the most necessary of public projects. Apart from the loss of such land, extending road networks risks further eroding the few remaining open gaps between localities. The Central Link project will result in the loss of 60,000sq.m of agricultural land while the Addolorata road works will result in the further loss of 15,000sq,m. Balancing land- use costs with infrastructural needs is always difficult especially in a situation where the onslaught of road-building is being conducted in the context of a building boom, which by its own nature is increasing traffic and creating more infrastructural pressures. Moreover, the nexus between the property boom and population increase may nullify any temporary benefits of road-widening. In the absence of more substantial measures, widen- ing roads may buy us a few years; only to re- turn to the same problem after the number of cars catches up with the new infrastructure. The risk is that by that time, more rural land would have been lost, which may well pres- age even more development as open spaces between towns are eroded. That is why road- widening should be minimised as much as pos- sible and only undertaken in conjunction with a real effort to decrease traffic in Malta. Meanwhile, government's haste to embark on such projects raises questions of its own. Transport Minister Ian Borg seems keen on leaving his mark as a 'doer' rather than a 'pro- crastinator'. But his government's decision to press ahead with Tal-Balal works in the ab- sence of a permit puts it in the same league as developers who first conduct works illegally, and then apply to regularise at a later stage. It sends the wrong message to society. Borg's zeal is also problematic because he is not just a roads minister, but a transport and planning minister. This infers that road widen- ing – where necessary – should be conducted in the context of the government's own Trans- port Master Plan, which is aimed at reducing traffic. The only silver lining is that Malta may soon reach the critical population mass to make a mass transit system like mono rail or a metro economically feasible. But this will take years to develop, and may represent new environ- mental challenges. Therefore, in the medium term, the only viable solution is that of reducing traffic on the roads and encouraging alternatives like maritime routes. In this respect businesses need to assume their responsibilities. Green Travel Plans should be a standard practice, and businesses which offer workers alternative means of transport – or encourage car-pooling – should benefit from fiscal incentives. Fiscal disincentives like congestion charges – although potentially unpopular – should be considered at some stage. Editorial "I see nothing in the Prime Minister's per- sonal interest, but information that is cru- cial from a political perspective … which has been given to the Prime Minister and not the Opposition leader." Adrian Delia testifies in court in his constitutional case to release a copy of the Egrant inquiry