Swedish government departments sell Personal data to businesses - living in glass houses and throwing stones

Monday, 05 August 2013
Swedish Transport Authority earned nearly Skr30 million in the business of selling personal data of car owners to advertisers, without permission or knowledge from the data bearers.
According to Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter reporting on the issue which some officials think is outrageous, it comes on the hills of outrage in Sweden when it emerged that the US government was collecting personal data of people and which Sweden also called the USA  and said it must  explain the extent to which personal data are collected and use.

While the US use personals cyber of phone communication data for security purposes, the Swedish government establishments which collects data on drivers and other information pass them on for financial motives. But the question is why are people outrageous about the report. Why could people not believe that their data was being traded?

Well, it turns out that the Swedish transport Agency is one of several Swedish authorities that sell personal information to companies that send out direct mail, writes the Swedish daily,  Dagens Nyheter. Others include - Companies Registration Office, Swedish Tax authority and CSN which provide student finance - all engaged in the sale of personal data.

In recent years, the transport board has earned nearly Skr30 million by selling personal data every year and the money is said to cover operating expenses said Dagens Nyheter. What operating expenses the transport authority needs Skr30 million to cover remains mind bugling.

According to the law governing  public authorities, they are required to disclose such information, but that has not happened despite systematic records sales to advertising companies - something Anna Hörnlund, lawyer for the Data Inspectorate told the paper that it is  completely different.

The power of personal data and the money contain in it, within businesses and the temptation by organisations to sell such data could be see within the context of the explosion of social media organisations such as Facebook. Facebook is worth billion what does it produce? People's personal data and this is used to make targeted advertisement.

In Sweden, if CSN for example sells data to companies about students who have been recently granted student funding, his will means that those companies will target those students who have recently received a large amount of money from government expected to be spent on education. They'll start receiving credit card offers, shopping and even holiday offers something that has nothing to do with their education. Therefore, if advertisement is as powerful as it is believed, these students might end up consuming their study fund on undesirable objects.
by Scancomark.com Tean