The Courts of various Member States have been called upon to rule on domestic legislation concerning the limits and validity of the use of Metadata as evidence in criminal proceedings. There is no uniformity in the several acknowledgements expressed in the decisions handed down, and some domestic rules have also been invalidated.
There are currently different procedures and practices in the EU regarding the admissibility of the use of Metadata for criminal investigation purposes, mainly regarding the type of data and the retention period allowed. The countries currently already facing this obstacle are, among others, France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Slovenia, Belgium and Portugal.