Sweden's new wiretapping law 'much worse than the Stasi'

[Aptrgangr]

Sweden's new wiretapping law 'much worse than the Stasi'

Published: 10 Jun 08 11:52 CET


With just a week to go before the Swedish parliament is expected to pass a controversial wiretapping law, Pirate Party leader Rickard Falkvinge urges people to do all they can to block the legislation.

• New tools needed to \'preempt national security threats\' (10 Jun 08)
• Sweden closer to new wire-tapping law (5 Jun 08)
• Man compensated for police security camera blunder (29 Apr 08)

On June 17th the Swedish parliament is set to vote on the introduction of a new "signal surveillance" law.

What the law means is that all telephone and internet operators will be forced to attach a large cable to the state's supercomputer, where the state will be able to keep a record of everything said in telephone conversations, surfed on the web or written on the internet.

The law can best be described by the more explanatory term "general surveillance". Instead of just criminal suspects having their phones tapped, now everyone will be tapped via their phones, emails, web surfing, faxes etc.

But the state won't keep a record of everything. First it will scan all phone calls, emails and so on, in real time. Anything that is "considered interesting" on the basis of 250,000 search criteria, will be saved for further investigation.

All our phone calls, emails and surfing habits will be observed by Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets Radioanstalt - FRA), which is why the proposed legislation is known as the "FRA law".

There are no courts involved, and the government and all its agencies - including the police and the security police - will be able to snoop around in the tapped phone and email correspondence of its citizens.

This is much, much worse than the East German Stasi, which was only capable of tapping a small sector of the population. This is also something that has been pointed out by German members of parliament with first-hand experience of the Stasi.

Proponents of the law say it "only concerns cross-border communications". Unfortunately this is a bare-faced lie. Records of communications will be kept at 20 nodal points, strategically placed to capture all communications that cross Sweden's borders. But any internal communications that happen to come into contact with any one of these nodes will also be analyzed by the state. Essentially this means that everyone will be affected since, for technical reasons, most phone calls and emails between two Swedes pass through another country.

Proponents say that "this has absolutely nothing to do with Swedes; FRA isn't allowed to investigate Swedes if there is no substantial cause". This is a dishonest formulation. Another way of saying exactly the same thing would be: "FRA may snoop on Swedes as part of this mass wiretapping scheme if certain criteria are met". In fact, the entire statement is dishonest, since the legislation up for debate only concerns signal surveillance for the military. What these people don't mention is that the FRA already carries out surveillance for the police using exactly the same staff and the same wiretapping network.

Proponents say that "only a very small amount of information will be listened to", and refer to the pieces of information that will be sifted out for further examination. This is also a direct lie. Everything will be listened to. Whatever information is then selected for further examination is irrelevant; the violation of personal integrity occurs when the state gives itself access to its citizens' private communications, not when one of the search terms it uses to filter the data happens to match.

Democracy is reliant on the transparency of power, not the transparency of citizens. All places where the opposite has been the case - where it has been impossible to examine the powers that be, while citizens lack any right to a private life - have been really nasty places to live.

Signal surveillance is supposed to protect us against external threats. In reality, however, it is the surveillance itself that constitutes a direct threat against Swedish democracy.

Aftonbladet has written about the law today (the first time old media have really contributed to the debate). Unfortunately they present the proponents' propaganda as fact. Proponents of the law have shown themselves to be completely unreliable. On May 31st I put forward evidence [in Swedish] showing that they know they are breaking the constitution but they just don't care.

The Pirate Party has long campaigned for the right to a private life. For example, we held a demonstration in central Stockholm recently demanding the right to civil liberties and for an end to all plans for general surveillance.

A campaign site has just gone online called Stoppa FRA-lagen! (Stop the FRA law) with more information about this draconian piece of legislation.

It's high time to get involved. Write to your local member of parliament, talk to friends and acquaintances about what's happening. Anything. Just do something. Before it's too late.

Rickard Falkvinge

The Local - Sweden\'s new wiretapping law \'much worse than the Stasi\'

Merkel was successful it seems, soon you Swedes (and other EU members) won't live under GDR but FRG conditions...

[Kernunnos]

When the people doesn't suit the government, the government elects a new one.

The true face of social democracy. I have a feeling I know what that 250.000 search criteria will contain for sure.

[Weltschmerz]

I honestly thought that all of this was already in effect,
and I have no reason to believe otherwise.

[Weltschmerz]

Originally Posted by Gnist

I honestly thought that all of this was already in effect,
and I have no reason to believe otherwise.

I was right! They are already tapping everything. The law is a mere formality. An official made a slip of tongue on TV yesterday.

[Weltschmerz]

Centre Party split over surveillance

Published: 17 Jun 08 09:02 CET
Online: The Local - Centre Party split over surveillance

Sweden's Centre Party is meeting on Tuesday morning for eleventh hour deliberations ahead of Wednesday morning's parliamentary vote on the government's controversial and divisive surveillance bill.

* 'Orwellian law must be stopped' (18 Jun 08)
* Surveillance protesters gather outside Riksdag (18 Jun 08)
* Critics force snoop law postponement (18 Jun 08)

The party's parliamentary group broke off its meeting at 2am on Tuesday and was expected to reconvene at Government Offices at 8.30am.

"But I can't say whether it will be to continue our discussions or to communicate a decision," Centre Party political secretary Jessica Bissmark told TT.

The meeting began on Monday evening and was adjourned after three hours "to allow a somewhat smaller group to sit down and find a solution, a sort of voting declaration, that the whole group can get behind," said group leader Roger Tiefensee.

Deliberations continued in smaller groups throughout the night and included discussions between Roger Tiefensee and "selected sections" of the parliamentary group.

Members of parliament Annie Johansson and Fredrick Federley have both expressed their opposition to the proposal, which would enable Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets Radioanstalt - FRA) to monitor all outgoing and incoming communications crossing Sweden’s borders.

Johansson and Federley both said they had decided how they would vote before Monday's meeting, though neither would reveal their intentions.

According to Roger Tiefensee, Johansson and Federley were not the only ones with reservations.

"There are several who have had major doubts, but at the same time we are all committed to holding the group together and resolving the issue," he said.

The Centre Party is one of four parties in Sweden's coalition government. The others are: the Moderate Party, Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

[Weltschmerz]

BIG BROTHER SOCIETY?

Dissenters put snoop vote on knife edge

Published: 17 Jun 08 12:10 CET
Online: The Local - Dissenters put snoop vote on knife edge

Four centre-right members of parliament, the exact number needed to block Sweden's hotly debated new surveillance law, have not yet committed to voting in favour of the bill when it is put to the vote on Wednesday morning.

* Centre Party split over surveillance (17 Jun 08)
* Swedish press slams proposed surveillance law (13 Jun 08)
* Sweden sets sights on new snoop law (11 Jun 08)

The bill is set to be debated in the Riksdag on Tuesday afternoon but by late morning the Centre Party had not yet received assurances that all members of its parliamentary group would vote to pass the bill into law.

"We have adjourned for a little pause but we are in agreement that we should hold the group and the Alliance together," said parliamentary group leader Roger Tiefensee after a two-hour meeting. The meeting was necessitated by the group's failure to hammer out a deal on Monday evening.

One of the Centre Party's most vocal critics of the proposed legislation, Annie Johansson, said she had decided how she would vote.

"I will explain my standpoint in the chamber this afternoon," she said.

Fellow critic Fredrick Federley is also scheduled to speak as part of the debate that will precede Wedneday morning's vote.

The Liberal Party's parliamentary group also held a meeting on Tuesday morning, with Birgitta Ohlsson and Cecilia Wikström indicating the might side with the opposition and vote against the government's proposal.

Frida Johansson Metso, the head of the party's youth wing (LUF), said Wikström had outlined her position in a meeting with LUF.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

[Weltschmerz]

Party whips to force through snoop law

Published: 17 Jun 08 08:36 CET
Online: The Local - Party whips to force through snoop law

Sweden's governing centre-right parties are expected to gain the majority of votes needed to pass a deeply controversial surveillance law at the Riksdag on Wednesday morning.

* Swedish press slams proposed surveillance law (13 Jun 08)
* Sweden sets sights on new snoop law (11 Jun 08)
* Sweden's new wiretapping law 'much worse than the Stasi' (10 Jun 08)

While the bill is unpopular with many members of the governing Alliance's members of parliament parties, all are under pressure from their party whips to put party before personal preferences and vote in favour of the proposal.

"I expect all Alliance members of parliament to vote in faovur of the bill," Christian Democrat group leader Stefan Attefall told news agency TT.

The dissenting votes of four centre-right members of parliaments are all that is required to block the bill.

The three parties of the opposition have agreed to vote against the proposed law, although only the Green Party has rejected the bill outright. Both the Social Democrats and the Left Party have called for amendments to be made before the bill is passed.

Two Centre Party members of parliament, Annie Johansson and Fredrick Federley, have openly criticized the draft legislation. Both said they had decided how they would vote before meeting with their parliamentary group on Monday, though neither would comment on their exact intentions. Group leader Roger Tiefensee said he expected them to follow the party line.

"That is my ambition as group leader," he told TT.

A meeting of the Centre Party's parliamentary group continued late into Monday night and was expected to reconvene att 8.30am on Tuesday as MPs continue to grapple with the issue.

The Liberal Party's Birgitta Ohlsson has also openly expressed her dislike of the surveillance bill, which would enable Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets Radioanstalt - FRA) to monitor all outgoing and incoming communications crossing Sweden’s borders.

But group leader Johan Persson expects her to stick to the party line.

"Yes, I expect people to vote in favour of Liberal Party policy," he told TT.

Should the government's proposal for the secret surveillance of email and telephone communication pass into law, the Left Party has called for the current opposition to rip up the legislation if there is a change of government in 2010.

"It gives FRA powers and possibilities for surveillance of the sort that we have never before witnessed in Swedish history," Left Party leader Lars Ohly told TT.

On Monday night, SVT television new programme Aktuellt revealed, in a report confirmed by FRA director general Ingvar Åkesson, that FRA had been gathering information about Swedes' telephone and computer communications for the last ten years.

The data concerned the identity of the people communicating with each other rather than the nature of their communication. Åkesson said that the information was screened out after eighteen months.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

[Weltschmerz]

Sigfrid defies party over surveillance

Published: 17 Jun 08 13:17 CET
Online: The Local - Sigfrid defies party over surveillance
Sigfrid defies party over surveillance

Moderate Party member of parliament Karl Sigfrid has said he will ignore this party whip and vote against the government's proposed surveillance law.

* 'Orwellian law must be stopped' (18 Jun 08)
* Surveillance protesters gather outside Riksdag (18 Jun 08)
* Critics force snoop law postponement (18 Jun 08)

In an email published by Politikerbloggen, Sigfrid explained his decision to his parliamentary group leader Lars Lindblad.

"Preventing the cable-based surveillance system is more important than my political future," he writes.

Describing his reason for defying the wishes of his party, Sigfrid says:

"Mass surveillance of Swedish citizens is a measure that is not proportionate to the problems Swedish authorities are expected to solve."

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

[Weltschmerz]

Surveillance protesters gather outside Riksdag

Published: 18 Jun 08 11:52 CET
Online: The Local - Surveillance protesters gather outside Riksdag

Protesters assembled outside the Riksdag on Wednesday morning to voice their dissatisfaction with a proposed new surveillance law, a revised version of which is expected to be completed later in the afternoon or evening.

* Dissenters put snoop vote on knife edge (17 Jun 08)
* Centre Party split over surveillance (17 Jun 08)
* Sigfrid defies party over surveillance (17 Jun 08)

Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors is believed to have hammered out a compromise with internal critics of the bill after Tuesday evening's emotional parliamentary debate.

Amendments to the bill would strengthen its civil liberty protections, said the minister at a hastily convened press conference on Tuesday evening.

But while the coalition partners now seem certain to vote the bill into law, critics of the signal surveillance law are not convinced by the last minute alterations. The law would enable Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets Radioanstalt - FRA) to monitor all outgoing and incoming communications crossing Sweden’s borders.

A group of protesters including journalists and bloggers began gathering outside the parliament building early on Wednesday morning. Parliamentarians arriving at their place of work were greeted with placards bearing messages such as 'Block the FRA law' and 'FRA threatens your civil liberties'.

Agneta Lindblom Hulthén, chairwoman of the Swedish Union of Journalists (Journalistförbundet), said all privacy safeguards would vanish with the new law.

"There is a limit to what a democracy can do to protect democracy without itself becoming undemocratic," she told news agency TT.

Hulthén added that as a journalist she was most concerned about a source's right to anonymity.

"The compromise proposal does nothing to protect sources or source anonymity," she said.

Parliament is expected to return the bill to the parliamentary defence committee on Wednesday morning.

Since a majority in the committee agreed on Tuesday evening to support the compromise proposal, parliament is likely to be presented with a revised version as early as Wednesday afternoon or evening.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

[Weltschmerz]

'Orwellian law must be stopped'

Published: 18 Jun 08 11:44 CET
Online: The Local - \'Orwellian law must be stopped\'

Despite some cosmetic changes, Sweden's proposed surveillance law is still a monster, writes Pär Ström from the independent New Welfare Foundation.

* Surveillance protesters gather outside Riksdag (18 Jun 08)
* Critics force snoop law postponement (18 Jun 08)
* Party whips to force through snoop law (17 Jun 08)

"The critics won", is the messgage from certain media outlets after it emerged that the FRA (Försvarets Radioanstalt - Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment) surveillance bill would be sent back to the parliamentary defence committee to enable the inclusion of certain "privacy guarantees".

But in fact nobody has won. We have instead witnessed politicians hoodwinking their citizens.

A monster with make-up is still a monster and "Swechelon", or Sweden's Echelon, must be stopped.

It is not yet certain how exactly the amendments to "Lex Orwell" will look. But the primary changes seem to be that: the Swedish Data Inspection Board will be tasked with monitoring FRA's surveillance; a parliamentary committee will also be appointed to watch the watchers; and FRA will be give a somewhat more limited remit regarding what it may and may not monitor. Mention has also been made of two new agencies: one to authorize surveillance and another to check on FRA's activities.

But on the whole these are no more than marginal adjustments. The basic idea remains unchanged.

FRA will still be able to conduct mass surveillance of law-abiding citizens' communications without need for a court order. It will be able to read people's emails and text messages, listen to their conversations, see which websites they are visiting, create "sociograms" that map out the friends people have. And so on.

It's just as absurd as it was before. It still runs counter to Article 12 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's still going to create a society characterized by self-censorship and concern. It's still going to make people fearful of contacting journalists to report abuses of power. Et cetera.

The government's idea now is to push the revised proposal through at breakneck speed. Somewhat like what they tried to do with the original draft bill. The Riksdag could vote the bill into law as early as this evening or tomorrow before people have come to the realization that the changes are a decoy. It bears repeating: "Swechelon" must be stopped!

[Routasydän]

Sweden and Germany are the most totalitarian states of Western Europe. It clearly shows the extent the political class has alienated itself from its supposed electorate, when they feel the need to spy on them.

EDIT:

Out of curiosity, are Swedish nationalists protesting these laws in any way?

[Sergius]

For years I have wondered why there is not a public group that protests these new advances in mind slavery. You would think that this is something that hundreds of thousands of Swedes would agree to fight without even a blink of an eye.