Justice minister Ernst Hirsh Ballin has again cut the proposed term for telecom firms to keep details of their customers internet usage, this time from one year to six months, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

The European commission wants to member states to store details of telephone and internet use to help police investigations.
The Netherlands had originally called for an 18-month limit on internet storage but the lower house of parliament forced a cut to 12 months. But on Tuesday, Hirsch Ballin was forced to reduce the period to six months in order to get the legislation through the upper house of parliament.
‘I am relatively pleased we have reduced this to six months,’ Christian Democrat senator Hans Franken told the paper. ‘The evaluation of this measure, mid next year, will look at both the need and use of storing this information and the cost of it.’
Six months is the minimum allowed under Brussels rules.
Information about telephone calls will be stored for 12 months.