Data retention discussions in Sweden - Again!

The discussions about implementation of the data retention directive in Sweden have started again. Now people blame each other for what is happening, push things through without any discussion, and blame EU and the directive for what we implement in Sweden.

It shows the people discussing this (including the politicians) have missed what is really happening here, and what has happened.

• Sweden was one of the countries that took the initiative for the extremely broken directive that we have to implement.
• People blame the previous government when referring to the directive, when in reality the civil servants at the Swedish Government that actually wrote the broken text have not been replaced.
• The directive is broken enough so that it has not lead to harmonization between the Member States. Just look at the implementation in Denmark.
• The investigation in Sweden lead to very different views of what should be written. Just look at the fact that a few members of the investigation required special views of theirs to be amended to the investigation.
• The open consultation process following did not lead to a unified view either, and many strong voices point at the broken process that lead to the situation we are in in Europe (which Sweden is responsible for).
• European Commission has even started an informal group that is now working with the issue of non-harmonization, which by itself shows that the fact the directive should have been better is known.
• Many organisations have written documents that show that the Swedish Government has lost control over the cost aspects of legislation related to data retention of various kinds. There is no single party inside the government that is responsible for coordination, harmonization and even cost aspects across the political areas that push requirements on the players in the market.

That people at this point in time is like in SvD arguing about who’s fault it is while pushing and not stopping and thinking, is embarrassing.

Embarrassing for Sweden, embarrassing for the people working with IT Policy, and embarrassing for the people that have their names connected to quotes in the newspapers.

Not many of them even know who is responsible to do what according to the legislation. But they still push for it. An unclear legislation, implementation of a directive that does not lead to harmonization.

I know we can do better in Sweden. Or else we should just give up.