Background & Purpose
To effectively combat crime and welfare fraud, public authorities in Sweden have needed better ways to share information that was previously locked behind strict confidentiality rules.
The Decision
The Swedish parliament approved the government's legislative proposal to introduce a new rule that allows authorities to bypass confidentiality when sharing crucial information.
Does this affect you?
- Public authorities in Sweden: Gain legal backing to exchange sensitive information with other government bodies for investigations.
- Individuals under investigation: May have their previously confidential data shared between different state agencies.
In Practice
- Public authorities can share information with each other without standard confidentiality rules getting in the way.
- Information sharing is strictly limited to purposes such as preventing, stopping, or investigating criminal activity.
- Authorities can also exchange data to prevent and investigate incorrect welfare payments and rule violations.
- A balancing test is always performed to ensure that the need for the information outweighs the privacy concerns.