Sweden Joins the US and UK in Gov. Cyberspace Monitoring – Germany to Follow Suit

June 19, 2008 — Amid great public outcry, the Swedish parliament passed legislation giving government the authority to demand specifics of Internet traffic from national ISPs. Sweden now joins the US and UK in this practice. Germany is soon to follow.

In what has become a dismaying trend of overreaction to the looming threat of terrorism, Sweden has now joined the United States and United Kingdom in requiring that all national ISPs, website hosting agencies, and other Internet based entities provide details of any traffic on demand. These activities first came to light when it was revealed that the US Federal Government was forcing warrant-less searches on ISPs such as AT&T ®, Verizon ® and others. As reported by CNN, CNET, and others, changes to FISA give the federal government unchecked authority to monitor the electronic activities of private US citizens. Pres. Bush is pressing for making these (currently) temporary changes permanent. Sweden has passed similar legislation – introduced in 2007 – with a slim majority. The cause for alarm and general outcry by Swedish citizens stems not only from the sweeping powers of this new law, but also from what has been widely seen as a reversal of promised voting by parliamentarians. As late as last week, it was hoped that enough NO votes would be registered. Last year, a Google ® spokesperson indicated that it would "never place any servers inside Sweden's borders if the proposal [went] through." There is additional concern for citizens in Europe as the use of Skype and other telephony services is common practice—Europeans tend to be charged for each phone call placed through traditional phone services. This new legislation has the potential to completely remove any perception of 'private communication' in Sweden as more and more citizens convert to emerging technologies. Unfortunately, Sweden is not alone in adopting these draconian policies. A draft giving similar powers to the BKA (Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation) in Germany has been adopted and is expected to pass into law in the near future.

The bill permits the BKA to hack into private computers. Every time a selected computer goes online the entire contents of its main disk will be sent to the BKA (online search).

The BKA is also allowed to collect and store the personal data of selected individuals or entire companies from all public authorities. The data is selected on the basis of certain broad criteria. Internet providers and telecommunications companies will be required to store all connecting data for a half year and pass on such data to the police and secret services upon request. BKA investigators can then examine cell phone, e-mail and Internet data to determine when and with whom a subject established contact and which web sites he or she visited on the Internet.

In addition to the powers granted in this proposed legislation, officials in the German government have already been working on an "anti-terror file" which includes specific details of electronic transmissions of millions of private citizens. Although access to this file is limited, their are over 30 separate entities that have been granted such access. Although the actions of three sovereign countries is no evidence of sweeping change, it should be noted that the UK and Germany have tended to set the tone for European actions and events in the past. The possible future ramifications of this recent legislation, given past patterns in Europe are bone-chilling and warrant greater future scrutiny.