Bugging operation in Sweden

The conservative Swedish defence minister, Mikael Odenberg, has presented a revised draft of a new bugging law that would allow the FRA – the ministry of defence's monitoring unit – to monitor telephone conversations and emails in its campaign against terrorism and organised crime. Maria Abrahamsson sees the proposal as a threat. "Odenberg's proposal takes as little account of protection of privacy as the EU resolution on recording telephone data. The resolution is due to enter force this year in Sweden. This means that recordings of all telephone calls, text messages, emails and log-ins will be kept for at least one year in case the police require access to the information in an investigation. The law does not foresee any exceptions for editorial departments. Yet we haven't heard any protests from the journalist's association so far. It's worrying that this professional group has failed to understand the implications of FRA monitoring and the obligatory recording of telephone data."

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