FRA law

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The FRA Act ( FRA-lagen in Swedish ) is a Swedish legislative package that gives the state the power to eavesdrop on all telephone and internet connections that cross the Swedish border without any judicial reservation. It was passed by the Swedish Parliament on June 18, 2008 with a vote of 143 to 138 , with one member abstaining and 67 other members not present. The law came into force on January 1, 2009.

More precisely, "FRA Law" is the common name for the new law, as is various changes to existing laws, formally referred to as " Draft Law 2006/07: 63 - An Adapted Military Intelligence Service" (in Swedish: proposition 2006/07: 63 - En anpassad försvarsunderrättelseverksamhet ). It was introduced as an anti-terror law and gives the authority Försvarets radioanstalt (FRA) the right to carry out signals intelligence at all Internet hubs that route traffic across Swedish borders, although experts argue that it is impossible to switch between international and national traffic to distinguish.

Swedish state television news and other sources report that the FRA has in fact been conducting wiretapping against Swedish citizens for a decade. According to the Försvarets radioanstalt general director Ingvar Åkesson, the agency destroyed the collected data after 18 months, but confirmed that they were actually collecting information not only from foreigners, but also from Swedes, such as finding Swedish search terms applied to the collected data, suggest.

Protest and criticism

Protest against the law in Stockholm.

The law met with protests and opposition across the Swedish political landscape, with even the youth organizations of the parties in the governing coalition opposed the law. Virtually all major newspapers spoke out against the law, as did lobby organizations such as the Swedish Journalists' Association and the Swedish Bar Association. Telecommunications and Internet companies such as Google , Bahnhof AB and TeliaSonera took a critical stance against the law. There were also fears that the law might prevent foreign investment in Sweden. It could potentially lead to legal proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights  . Protests and demonstrations were held regularly in the capital Stockholm and other major cities.

On August 8, 2008, the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reported that, according to recent polls, 51% of Swedes were against the law, compared with 47% in June 2008. The newspaper also said trust in Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt may be at risk .

See also

Web links

Commons : Försvarets radioanstalt (FRA)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Redovisning förslagpunkter 2007/08: FöU15 / Omröstning i sakfrågan. (No longer available online.) Riksdagen , archived from the original on February 28, 2009 ; Retrieved January 3, 2012 (Swedish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.riksdagen.se
  2. ↑ Sweden approves wiretapping law. BBC , June 19, 2008, accessed January 3, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Filip Struwe: FRA lagrar svenska telesamtal och mejl. (No longer available online.) SVT , June 16, 2008, archived from the original on May 28, 2012 ; Retrieved January 3, 2012 (Swedish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / svt.se
  4. ↑ FRA har samlat data i tio år. Dagens Nyheter , June 16, 2008, accessed January 3, 2012 (Swedish).
  5. ↑ Belgium ställer Sverige inför Europadomstolen. June 22, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2012 (Swedish).
  6. ^ Swedes Massively Protest Wiretap Law. Torrentfreak, July 7, 2008, accessed January 3, 2012 .
  7. ↑ 51% mot FRA idag. Aftonbladet, August 8, 2008, accessed January 3, 2012 (Swedish).