Figures indicate State use of spying laws fell after a landmark High Court judgment, but their use as an intelligence tool continues, say Security Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe.

State access to the heaving digital sea that is people’s personal data was at the centre of two legal inquiries yesterday.

Digital rights campaigners have hailed the decision by the European Court of Justice to throw out the Data Retention Directive — opening the way for a new challenge to Irish laws on the retention of personal data records here.