On the 18th of June the Swedish Parliament will vote on a referendum posed by the current liberal-conservative government that will open up the possibility of extensive monitoring of cable bound communication crossing the Swedish national border.

Since almost all communication today – not only on the Internet - does not adhere to national borders any more, this will open up to potential monitoring of an extreme amount of civilian communication.

The motives of the law is to gain access to communication that goes into the wide category of posing a "foreign treat". A modification from the earlier social-democratic governments idea of the law being passed for the purpose of monitoring "foreign military treat".

According to numerous oppositional voices to the law, it's security comes with a hefty price tag. Monitoring on this scale might give a sense of security, but it also opens up for systematic abuse according to the among others the Swedish secret police (SÄPO).
- The proposals suggest an appalling lack of understanding of the requirements in terms of protection of privacy under the Constitution and the European Convention for the Protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, the secret police have written in response to the referendum.

Other concerns raised is that the potential abuse might not be a reality when the system is put into place. But when FRA will start monitoring communication on a wide scale, it can easily be made into something not thought out in the beginning.

Read more on the the Swedish national campaign site www.stoppafralagen.nu (available in English).

e-mail:: robert_hal@hotmail.com

add a comment on this article