17 March 2020 NEWS PRIVACY

New law in Sweden 1 April 2020



Covert Surveillance of Data Act (SFS 2020:62) (the act is short-term legislation and will enter into force on 1 April 2020)

Short Summary:

Since Mullvad VPN is not to be regarded as an electronic communications service with a reporting obligation according to LEK, Chapter 2, Section 1, Mullvad VPN cannot be subject to a duty to cooperate in connection with the enforcement of a decision authorising covert surveillance of data in accordance with the new Covert Surveillance of Data Act.



For users (of computers and other electronic devices), the new Covert Surveillance of Data Act grants law enforcement agencies the authority, upon a special permit (in each specific case) from a competent Swedish court, to secretly install software or hardware on suspect users' devices or devices which the suspect in special cases have or will most likely contact. This implies that law enforcement agencies may access a suspect user's information before it is encrypted by VPN-services such as Mullvad VPN.



To read the full text:

Swedish: https://mullvad.net/help/lagen-om-hemlig-dataavlasning/

English: https://mullvad.net/help/swedish-covert-surveillance-data-act/