“In a letter to the White House, a coalition of US organizations urged the Administration to recognize the recent opinion by the Court of Justice, the highest court in Europe, that ended a European data retention mandate. The European law required telephone and internet companies to retain metadata on customers for national security purposes. The European Court of Justice ruled that this practice violates the fundamental right to privacy and is illegal. The US groups argue that the opinion “bears directly on the White House’s review of the NSA Telephone Records Collection Program and also the White House study of Big Data and the Future of Privacy.” The groups urged the White House to 1) recognize the Court’s decision in its upcoming report on big data and privacy; and 2) end the NSA telephone record collection program. The letter states that the decision by European Court “is the most significant legal opinion from any court in the world on the risks of big data and the ongoing importance of privacy protection.” Last year EPIC, joined by dozens of legal scholars and former members of the Church Committee, urged the US Supreme Court to find the NSA’s telephone record collection program unlawful. More recently, EPIC submitted extensive comments warning the White House of the enormous risks of current big data practices. For more information, see EPIC: Data Retention and EPIC: Big Data and the Future of Privacy.”