491S Blog Post W/E 3/11/07

Sweden eyes monitoring e-mail, cellphone calls

- from BNA email

This article was of interest to me because I see it as a somewhat followup to last weeks blog post regarding the United States DOJ intending to pass a law that mandates that image-sharing sites to have user data. Though this article pertains to Sweden and not the United States, I think it shows the current trend at governments attempting to better regulate the internet. However, this better regulation comes at the price of privacy of many internet users. The Swedish government contends that it will only monitor international emails and cellphone calls and thus only a tiny amount of communications will be monitored. However, this is not acceptable. I have friends in Sweden and I absolutely do not want the Swedish government reading the emails I send them.
The article also references the U.S. government's attempt do the same thing in 2001. This act was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of journalists and others who felt that this "would put many of their overseas contact under such surveillance".
This act still must be passed by Swedish Parliament. If passed, the Swedish government could use data-mining software to check for key words that occur in transmissions that occur over national borders. Other countries have similar laws, however they are not as invasive. For example, in Britain "emails can only be intercepted with a warrant signed by Secretary of State". Furthermore, these intercepted emails are inadmissible in court. This law is so overarching that even the Swedish security police criticize it. The law will come up in the Parliament later this year.
It is no secret that there is a problem in the world with terrorism, whether it be in the United States or Europe, however, the time is coming when people have to evaluate how much they are willing to give up to be "protected". Living in a world of no privacy can very likely make life not worth living.