National laws and regulations traditionally mandate telecommunications companies to retain traffic metadata, and to grant competent authorities access to the retained data in the context of criminal investigations or judicial activities.

A new benchmark of Cullen International surveys communications data retention obligations and the rules to access to such data in 11 countries of the Americas.

The benchmark shows that
 

• seven countries in Latin America impose communications data retention obligations on telecoms operators and/or ISPs, although the scope of such obligations varies across the region;
• Brazil is the only country explicitly imposing a data retention obligation on OTT communications providers;
• a bill currently under discussion in Costa Rica would impose a data retention obligation on telecoms operators and allow public prosecutors to access such data without a court order;
• in Canada and the US there are no ex ante data retention obligations on telecommunications or OTT providers, but operators may be obliged to grant access to communications data they collect for the purpose of providing telecoms services, or for any other legally valid reason, upon request and on different legal grounds.

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