Secret data reading - dilemmas with government hacking

• There is currently a strong political pressure to expand and intensify law enforcement agencies' surveillance capabilities, not least in response to ongoing organized gang conflicts. The recent political initiative can be understood as part of an emerging security discourse based on assumptions that surveillance technology will lead to increased efficiency and security in society. In 2020 a new law ‘secret data reading’ was enacted in Sweden, which gave law enforcement agencies legal support to use hacking as a method to hack into a suspect's digital devices, such as computers and mobile phones by exploiting vulnerabilities in the systems, to intercept information in messages and conversations through encrypted applications and programs. The method also makes it possible to activate a camera or a microphone in digital devices. The law was described as important for crime fighting and have recently been evaluated and suggested to be permanent in 2024. In addition, related legal changes were implemented in 2023 allowing secret data reading to be used to both prevent and investigate crime. The new possibility to use the method for preventive purposes, i.e. without criminal suspicion, can be described as a paradigm shift that allows government hacking with far-reaching risks for democratic rights such as privacy. The aim of this paper is therefore to critically explore the political discourse in relation to recent legal changes extending the mandate for law enforcement agencies (where the police is a central actor) to use secret data reading as part of their government work. We have conducted a discourse analysis of policy documents to explore arguments and assumptions expressed by various actors in relation to secret data reading. An important part of the analysis was also to unpack the meaning of privacy in relation to secret data reading allowing government hacking.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik -- Annan rättsvetenskaplig forskning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law -- Other Legal Research (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Studier av offentlig förvaltning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Public Administration Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie-, kommunikations-, och informationsvetenskaper -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Secret data reading

law enforcement

police

surveillance

privacy

hacking

recent legislation

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)