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The proposed new rules will require both telecommunications operators and ISPs to store records for 12 months. That information will be available to law enforcement agencies, but also to bodies such as local councils, health authorities and the Post Office.

Telcos and ISPs will not be obliged to store the content of communications. The stored data will comprise: the dates and times of messages, calls and other transactions; IP addresses; email addresses used; websites visited;

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dialled phone numbers; and the geographic location from which mobile calls are made.

The new law will replace existing legislation that only applied to telcos and once approved by parliament will come into effect on 15 March 2009. The law will complete the UK’s implementation of the EU data retention directive, though in one instance it goes further — the government will have the right to extend the retention period to 24 months, or reduce it to six.

The government will meet the cost of collecting and storing that data, which it expects to amount to £50 million over the next eight years. That is in addition to the £18.5 million it has already paid out to cover the cost of voluntary retention by telecoms operators.

The consultation paper does not mention earlier proposal to create a single, national database from the collected information.