Many countries worldwide, such as the United States, Australia, and European Union, have Mandatory Data Retention laws and policies as a backdoor to privacy in necessary times of calamity. Although at first, it might seem a good strategy to tackle cybercrime and keep tabs on suspects, such metadata retention jeopardizes the privacy of all the other people as a whole. And where it is necessary to have probable cause and a warrant from the judiciary to access stored data, every government agency silently follows different surveillance practices to access such metadata indirectly.
Think about stored confidential data as silos of information and what power it might give you when you have complete control over it. Hackers worldwide are always in search of such a gold mine of stored data either to gain personal benefits or cause harm to their agenda.
Since you have control over your devices, you can always minimize or protect your information by following a few security measures listed in our How to Protect from Metadata Retention guide.
Gain Knowledge of Metadata Retention in Your Country
Like common laws in your country, you should also know the regulations that affect your digital privacy and communication. Keep checking our Metadata Retention list of countries to get updated knowledge on the matter. You can access the website of the governmental institution responsible in your country or consult a lawyer to acquire vast knowledge.