Sweden Approves Warrantless Wiretapping Law
June 19th, 2008Via: BBC:
Sweden’s parliament has approved controversial new laws allowing authorities to spy on cross-border e-mail and telephone traffic.
The country’s intelligence bureau will be able to scan international calls, faxes and e-mails.
The measure was passed by a narrow majority after a heated debate in the Stockholm parliament.
Critics say it threatens civil liberties and represents Europe’s most far-reaching eavesdropping plan.
“By introducing these new measures, the Swedish government is following the examples set by governments ranging from China and Saudi Arabia to the US government’s highly criticised eavesdropping programme,” said Peter Fleischer, of Google.
Checks and balances
But those who support the plans say such measures are needed to protect national security from those increasingly using such technology to plan attacks.
The government insists that it will filter out domestic communication and monitor only international calls, faxes and messages.
Some experts insist that it is impossible to differentiate between domestic and international traffic.
Under the new law, Sweden’s intelligence bureau will no longer need a court order to begin surveillance, unlike the police.
Why the about face Herr Fleischer?
Companies like Google and Cisco were all too
willing to help the Chinese (and I am sure extensive amounts of others)outfit their restrictive networks.
In other news Herr Bush thanks lick spittle
Toady corporate puppets for re-authorizing USALAND’s own Domestic spying ops.
What a wonderful World