So what the point

[philsmove]

From March all internet service providers (ISPs) will by law have to keep information about every e-mail sent or received in the UK for a year

Internet Service Providers will have to record who sent the email, to whom and when
The e-mail's content will not be stored
Data can be accessed by more than 600 public bodies, such as the police and councils, if they make a valid request

So what the point of knowing I e-mailed Mata Hari , I might only be asking her for a dance

[straycat]

....
So what the point of knowing I e-mailed Mata Hari , I might only be asking her for a dance

Because a couple of years time, when everyone's used to the whole thing, the next change comes along, and the email's content is stored...

Just chipping away at our personal freedom, one teensy bit at a time....

[bigdjiver]

From March all internet service providers (ISPs) will by law have to keep information about every e-mail sent or received in the UK for a year

Internet Service Providers will have to record who sent the email, to whom and when
The e-mail's content will not be stored
Data can be accessed by more than 600 public bodies, such as the police and councils, if they make a valid request

So what the point of knowing I e-mailed Mata Hari , I might only be asking her for a dance

The ISP ought to be doing backups, which will store the email. The email may also be recoverable from the hard disk of the sender or the recipient, and they will know who to bug.