166It should also be added that, as is clear, in particular, from paragraphs 115 and 133 above, access to traffic and location data retained by providers in accordance with a measure taken under Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58 may, in principle, be justified only by the public interest objective for which those providers were ordered to retain that data. It follows, in particular, that access to such data for the purpose of prosecuting and punishing an ordinary criminal offence may in no event be granted where the retention of such data has been justified by the objective of combating serious crime or, a fortiori, by the objective of safeguarding national security. However, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, as mentioned in paragraph 131 above, access to data retained for the purpose of combating serious crime may, provided that the substantive and procedural conditions associated with such access referred to in the previous paragraph are observed, be justified by the objective of safeguarding national security.
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