German regulator Bundesnetzagentur pulled back on a new law requiring telecoms companies to store telephone and internet records for up to 10 weeks, following a court ruling.

The law, which was due to come into force on Saturday (1 July), would oblige German telecoms companies keep data on timings and duration of calls and online traffic through IP addresses, in a bid to fight crime.

The law would also require companies to store location data from mobile phones for four weeks.

However, Reuters reported that a German court ruled last week ruled that storing location and connection data, without a justifiable reason, ran afoul of European Union regulations.

In 2014, an EU court reversed a rule requiring telecoms companies to store communications data of its customers, on the grounds it infringed human rights.

Bundesnetzagentur decided not to force telecoms companies to store the data until legal issues around the law had been concluded, adding that it would not impose fines to companies for failing to take the steps for the time being.

Germany’s leading operator Deutsche Telekom welcomed the suspension.

“There must be legal certainty for such a sensitive infringement of the right to privacy,” board member Thomas Kremer told Reuters.