EU's top court says governments can't have unchecked access to phone and internet users' data

National government and their spying agencies cannot have unchecked access to phone and internet users' data, the European Union's top court said on Tuesday. In a much-awaited court ruling, the court said that the general and indiscriminate retention of such data can only be allowed when governments face a "serious threat to national security".

In this kind of situation, the full access to phone and internet users' data should be limited to a period that is "strictly necessary", it said.