Failure to do so would incur fines of up to $500,000.

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The measure, which is slated for vote next week, is an attempt to bring the country into compliance with a European Parliament directive advising the 15 European Union member countries to keep detailed records of communications –- including Internet, e-mail, phone, fax and pager data -– in an effort to thwart future terrorist attacks.

The legislation was introduced by the conservative Popular Party as an amendment to the pending "Law of Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce" (known by the Spanish acronym LSSI), which itself would force websites to register with the government and require Web-hosting companies to report suspected illegal activity.

"All navigation data, including traffic and connection data, will be stored without sufficient privacy guarantees," said Socialist senator Félix Lávilla Martínez, who fought to exclude the data retention measure from the bill.

The initiative was also criticized by Spanish ISP trade groups, which estimated it would cost $700,000 a terabyte to retain the required information.

Carlos Sánchez Almeida, a Spanish lawyer who specializes in new technology law, said the legislation would possibly violate the country's constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures because "the data is retained without a judicial order and the data of all citizens is retained, not just presumed delinquents."

Meanwhile, a group of concerned Internet users has vowed to continue fighting the implementation of the European Communications Data Protection Directive, at a national level. Stop 1984, named after George Orwell's fictional account of government surveillance, is collecting signatures for an open letter urging EU governments to implement the directive on a case-by-case basis.

Information about Internet surfers' communication behavior, interests, travel plans, sexual orientation and preferences are private and should be protected from prying government functionaries, the letter argues.