Swedish Parliament passes electronic surveillance law

On June 18, 2008 the Parliament of Sweden approved a bill that permits the interception and recording of data traveling through and within Sweden's borders beginning on the first day of 2009. The proposition was passed in a 143 to 138 vote, with one abstention. It was passed with an addendum to be reviewed this fall. The amendment will further stipulate the rights of the Swedish people under the new law.

The stated intent of the monitoring is to protect against foreign threats, cyber warfare, and the like. The hundreds who rallied to protest the privacy infringement seemed to have their own ideas. The Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment, the national signals intelligence agency, will now have expanded access to electronic communications including phone calls, e-mails, text messages and internet usage.