In a speech today before the International Association of Chiefs of Police, FBI Director Robert Mueller called for data retention mandates for Internet service providers to record their customers' online activities. Declan McCullagh has complete coverage over at CNet.

I wrote about data retention in this past essay...

* "Mandatory Data Retention: How Much is Appropriate?" by Adam Thierer, June 26, 2006.

... and over on IP Central, Jim DeLong has argued that mandatory data retention might constitute a taking...

* "Data Retention Requirements as a Taking," by Jim DeLong, June 27, 2006.

... and my friends Hance Hancy (of the Discovery Institute) and Jim Harper (of the Cato Institute) have also penned essays worth reading on this:

* "Internet Data Storage Is The Wrong Way To Combat Child Sexual Exploitation," by Hance Haney, Sept. 20, 2006.

* "Data Retention on the Move," by Jim Harper, June 1, 2006.

Stay tuned. This is sure to be a major debate in the next session of Congress regardless of who controls either of the chambers.