Garda requests for phone records down dramatically since new law was enacted

Gardaí, in response to a parliamentary question by Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, said that 1,000 requests had been made for phone activity data to mobile suppliers in 2020. There were just  193 such requests between January and May of 2023. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Garda requests to phone companies and internet service providers for customer and activity data had slowed to a trickle in the run up to the enactment of a controversial new data retention law last summer.

Just 299 such requests were made in the first five months of 2023, compared to nearly 5,000 across the 12 months of 2020.

Previously, gardaí had routinely requested such information without having to go to court. 

However, a ruling by the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in June 2022 found the practice was overly expansive and unlawful. It called into question thousands of convictions obtained using this data, including that of notorious murderer Graham Dwyer. 

Gardaí, in response to a parliamentary question by Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, said that 1,000 requests had been made for phone activity data to mobile suppliers in 2020. There were just  193 such requests between January and May of 2023. All of the trace requests in question were made under the 2011 Data Retention Act, despite the CJEU ruling.

Subscriber requests — for the identity of a specific user of a service — dropped from 3,856 in 2020 to just 98 in that period.

The Government hurriedly passed The Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Act 2022 into law after the CJEU’s 2022 decision. Under the new law gardaí seeking access to this information must first obtain permission from a judge.