Britain has presented its controversial data retention proposals to the European Union (EU) today, which could see ISP's forced to log private customer e-mail and surfing activity.

EU justice and interior ministers will discuss the data proposals on Thursday when they meet in Newcastle.

EU lawmakers - who received the paper on Wednesday from Home Secretary Charles Clarke in Strasbourg -- have complained that member states want to adopt the proposed measures without the European Parliament having a say.

Industry is concerned about costs, which in some EU countries could be hundreds of millions of euros. But the Home Office said cooperation between police and phone operators was relatively cheap and governments could pay some of the price for storing the data.

Having failed once, the UK government is hoping that recent attacks in London will enforce their case for such a law. ISP's are most likely to be concerned with cost, where as many others fear the civil liberty implications.

It's worth pointing out that while 99% of the mass media is concentrating solely on the 'terrorist' aspect, the actual proposals cover many other policing areas as well. Making such information too freely available could open the system to misuse.