27/07/2023, 22:38 CURIA - Documents Charter, referred to in paragraph 62 above, which is liable to result from the retention of those data, and, secondly, the seriousness of the interference entailed by such retention, it is necessary, within a democratic society, that retention be the exception and not the rule, as provided for in the system established by Directive 2002/58, and that those data should not be retained systematically and continuously. That conclusion applies even having regard to the objectives of combating serious crime and preventing serious threats to public security and to the importance that must be attached to them (judgment of 5 April 2022, Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and Others, C‑140/20, EU:C:2022:258, paragraph 65 and the case-law cited). 75 However, the Court specified that Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter, does not preclude legislative measures that, for the purposes of combating serous crime and preventing serious threats to public security, provide for: – the targeted retention of traffic and location data which is limited, on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory factors, according to the categories of persons concerned or using a geographical criterion, for a period that is limited in time to what is strictly necessary, but which may be extended; – the general and indiscriminate retention of IP addresses assigned to the source of an internet connection for a period that is limited in time to what is strictly necessary; – the general and indiscriminate retention of data relating to the civil identity of users of electronic communications systems; and – recourse to an instruction requiring providers of electronic communications services, by means of a decision of the competent authority that is subject to effective judicial review, to undertake, for a specified period of time, the expedited retention (quick freeze) of traffic and location data in the possession of those service providers, provided that those measures ensure, by means of clear and precise rules, that the retention of data at issue is subject to compliance with the applicable substantive and procedural conditions and that the persons concerned have effective safeguards against the risks of abuse (judgments of 6 October 2020, La Quadrature du Net and Others, C‑511/18, C‑512/18 and C‑520/18, EU:C:2020:791, paragraph 168, and of 5 April 2022, Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and Others, C‑140/20, EU:C:2022:258, paragraph 67). A measure providing for general and indiscriminate retention of the majority of traffic and location data for a period of several weeks 76 It is in the light of those governing considerations that the characteristics of the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings, highlighted by the referring court, must be examined. 77 In the first place, as regards the extent of the data retained, it is apparent from the order for reference that, in the context of the provision of telephone services, the retention obligation laid down by that legislation covers, inter alia, the data necessary to identify the source of a communication and its destination, the date and time of the start and end of the communication or – in the case of communication by SMS, multimedia message or similar message – the time of dispatch and receipt of the message and, in the case of mobile use, the designation of the cell sites used by the caller and the recipient at the start of the communication. In the context of the provision of internet access services, the retention obligation covers, inter alia, the IP address assigned to the subscriber, the date and time of the start and end of internet use from the assigned IP address and, in the case of mobile use, the designation of the cell sites used at the beginning of the internet connection. The data enabling the identification of the geographical location and the directions of maximum radiation of the antennas serving the cell site in question are also retained. 78 Although the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings excludes the content of the communication and the data concerning the websites visited from the retention obligation and requires the retention of the cell site designation only at the beginning of the communication, that was also true, in essence, of the national legislation transposing Directive 2006/24 at issue in the cases that gave rise https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document_print.jsf;jsessionid=A4432EEFFE3535A201E714AE6441EE66?mode=DOC&pageIndex=1&docid=265881… 17/28