About twenty internet companies, including music and video sites and internet heavyweights like Google and Facebook, are going to the French court to stop the far-reaching data retention measures proposed by the French government.

The French government wants internet providers to store traffic and user data and hold them available for enforcement purposes for a period of one year. The data retention measures are far reaching and for example include user passwords.

Nevertheless, companies like Facebook and Google have a certain double moral with respect to privacy: they themselves keep large amounts of customer data for their own commercial purposes, without making this clear to their customers. In this respect, Dutch MP Gesthuizen (SP) recently asked questions in the Dutch Parliament. In addition, a company like Google has strong ties with U.S. intelligence services. Google has also worked with NSA and CIA investors In-Q-Tel.