Mrkoll, Hitta.se, Ratsit and Lexbase are all names of search services where you can look up private persons’ addresses, telephone numbers, marital status and in some cases social security numbers.
Currently, these websites are protected by the fundamental laws “Freedom of the Press” and “Freedom of Expression” and therefore cannot be restricted by other regulations, for example GDPR.
Now the government’s special investigators are proposing that these search services should not be protected by the constitution. But what does this mean in practice?
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The proposal: New rules for search services such as Mrkoll, Ratsit and Lexbase
The investigator, the Court of Appeal Daniel Gustavssonbelieves that there is “no reason to allow the special constitutional protection for freedom of the press and freedom of expression to fully cover search services that are not normally used within the framework of the free news media”, he writes in the “Investigation on enhanced protection of personal data in the area of freedom of the press and freedom of expression” .
Even search services that publish personal data about violations of the law, i.e. legal databases, may disappear if the proposal becomes a reality.
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) receives the report Personal data and the basic media laws from the Investigation on enhanced protection of personal data in the area of freedom of press and expression. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT.
The reason for this proposal is that information found on Mrkoll and Ratsit, among others, has in some cases been used by criminals in order to map potential crime victims.
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The new proposal causes villa owners to rejoice
Some who are positively disposed to the proposal are the Villaägarnas Riksförbund. Their federal counsel Lena Södersten believes that the search services make it easier for criminals to find crime victims.
– On the search services, a thief who works methodically can easily search a residential area, street by street, house by house and find an elderly person who lives alone and a little secluded and subject him or her to a burglary or robbery. The search services also facilitate fraud, shootings and explosions, says Södersten in a press release from the association.
Since 2003, these websites have had free publishing certificates, and Södersten believes that this provision has now expired.
– Our legislation must keep pace with the times we live in, she says in the press release “Villa owners welcome proposals to stop search services”.
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The criticism: “Major intervention in the constitutions”
The search services are widely used by journalists, who are now critical of the investigator’s proposal.
One of them is Ulrika Hyllertchairman of the Association of Journalists.
– It is important that we do not get a regulation that removes the carpet from journalistic reviews of, for example, corruption and organized crime. That journalists can use search services is in some cases a prerequisite for that type of review, she says in a statement from the trade union.
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If the proposal becomes a reality, a general exception will be introduced in the constitutions. It will therefore not matter if the information on the search services is sensitive or harmless in order for them to be excluded from constitutional protection.
– It is about a major intervention in the constitution, says Hyllert in the press release “Criticism of proposals in the search service investigation”.
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