Sweden struggles with e-transparency

BRUSSELS - 21 / 3 / 2010 - A draft law for access to electronically held information has caused a protest by the Swedish Union of Journalists. If the proposal comes through as it is, civil servants should deny access to electronic data when such access is found ”inappropriate”. E-transparency is seen as a grace, not as a public right.

By Staffan Dahllöf

Sweden, often considered the mother nation of transparency has had the right to public access to official documents written into its constitution since 1766, but does not give the same right to documents in an electronic form.

A parliamentarian committee (E-offentlighetskommittéen – The E-access committee) has recently suggested that the authorities should consider – but not grant – electronic access. Thus Sweden appears to follow a general tendency in the EU and some EU countries, where the fight about access to electronically held information currently is ongoing.

As there are many hundred different official registers with different rules of handling, they will all have to be looked into before an obligatory electronic access can be suggested, the committee says.

The committee also wants to keep a present denial rule to access linked to the implementation of the EU directive on personal data.This rule forces applicants to scan printed documents themselves, thus making it difficult and expensive to access large amounts of data that might jeopardize the privacy of individuals.

Representatives from all parties in the Swedish parliament agree with the committee. So far only the Swedish Union of Journalists (SJF) has criticised the proposals.

The Union suggests that electronic access should be granted on the same conditions as printed documents, unless stated otherwise in law, and that a rubber sentence leaving it to the authorities to decide whether e-acccess is ”inappropriate” or not, is blanked out.

Known as a frontrunner on transparency, Sweden is now passed by Finland, Norway, presumably Denmark, Estonia, The Netherlands and Slovenia when it comes to access to documents in the digital world.

Links:

Proposal from the e-access committee (only in Swedish) on access to electronically held information.

Criticism from the Swedish Union of Journalists (in Swedish)

21-03-2010, European Union, Sweden

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