VPNs with servers in Czechia

The Constitutional Court had annulled section 97(3) and (4) and Decree 485/2005 by its judgment of 22 March 2011 (Pl. ÚS 24/10, 94/2011 Coll.), effective on 12 April 2011. Reports of the ruling say it found the purposes and conditions of use too vaguely defined and doubted that retaining almost all communications was necessary and proportionate.

Act 273/2012, effective 1 October 2012, adopted section 97(3) and (4) afresh. On 14 May 2019 the Court rejected a petition of 58 deputies against them (Pl. ÚS 45/17, 161/2019 Coll.), holding that they can be applied in a constitutionally conforming way. Whether a VPN operator is covered is not established.

Under section 84a of the Gambling Act (186/2016), an internet access provider must block a website no later than the fifteenth day after the Ministry of Finance enters it on the list of unauthorised internet games. A site is listed when a prohibited game is run through it or its essential purpose is to enable or conceal one. A provider that allows access commits an offence under section 123b, fined up to CZK 1,000,000.

Defamation is an offence under section 184 of the Criminal Code: a false statement capable of significantly harming a person’s standing carries up to one year, and up to two years or a ban on activity if made through a publicly accessible computer network. Sections 355 and 356 punish public disparagement of, and incitement to hatred against, groups, with up to three years where a public network is used.

Data for identifying the sender is obtained under section 88a of the Criminal Procedure Code on a reasoned written judicial order. In judgment III. ÚS 1459/22, published on 17 January 2024, the Constitutional Court held that criminal defamation is for the most serious conduct and that civil remedies normally suffice.

Under Act 153/1994 intelligence services are overseen by the Government and Parliament. The Chamber of Deputies oversees the Security Information Service through a special oversight body under Act 154/1994 and military intelligence through one under Act 289/2005, and the Security Information Service may use intelligence technology only with the written permission of the chairman of a High Court panel of judges.

The order of the rows is the security score, and a server’s location is not a recommendation.