Swedish gov't to vote on allowing downloads, e-mail, phone monitoring
Sweden is about to vote on a bill that will allow local authorities to monitor all types of wired traffic, including e-mails, fax messages and telephone calls.
This week, the Swedish Parliamentary Committee on Defense approved the bill, which was published last year. The Committee also said more safeguards are needed, including additional details on when the data can be used, how it should be destroyed and who can access it.
On June 17 the bill will be debated and finally voted on in the Swedish Parliament.
Its detractors see the vote in the Parliament as a watershed moment.
"We are about to give up an important right, not to be monitored by the state unless there are suspicions of serious crimes," said Maria Rankka, head of Swedish think thank Timbro.
One problem is that the lawmakers assume people in charge always have good intentions, and history has shown that is simply not the case, according to Rankka.
If parliament approves the bill, the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. The Defense Radio Establishment will get access to the data from Oct. 1, according to the Parliamentary Committee on Defense.
Read the full article.
This week, the Swedish Parliamentary Committee on Defense approved the bill, which was published last year. The Committee also said more safeguards are needed, including additional details on when the data can be used, how it should be destroyed and who can access it.
On June 17 the bill will be debated and finally voted on in the Swedish Parliament.
Its detractors see the vote in the Parliament as a watershed moment.
"We are about to give up an important right, not to be monitored by the state unless there are suspicions of serious crimes," said Maria Rankka, head of Swedish think thank Timbro.
One problem is that the lawmakers assume people in charge always have good intentions, and history has shown that is simply not the case, according to Rankka.
If parliament approves the bill, the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. The Defense Radio Establishment will get access to the data from Oct. 1, according to the Parliamentary Committee on Defense.
Read the full article.
