On Wednesday, the administrative court in Stockholm decided that public documents may only be released to the news agencies Vivalto, Sirén, Trobar and Stat och Samhälle with certain reservations.
First, the personal data in the documents that are released may only be used for journalistic purposes.
Second, personal data – for example social security number, name, address, information about health or crime – must not be posted in databases and registers to which the public or paying customers have access.
– The verdicts are interesting and are part of a new tradition in Sweden’s courts, where from the south up to the north they have started to say no to commercial databases, says Oisín Cantwell, a columnist at Aftonbladet particularly focused on, among other things, legal issues.
However, it is too early to say that this would be a new practice, Cantwell believes, because the decision has not been appealed and the Supreme Court has not said its opinion on the matter.
Previous judgments
Earlier in February, the Court of Appeal ruled that the commercial legal database Verfiera does not have the right to sell data containing sensitive information about addiction treatment and psychiatric involuntary care.
– In the past it has been the opposite, but this is a new kind of judgment where documents are released with the proviso that they must be used in journalistic activities. Which in itself becomes a new problem because there is no legal definition of what it is, says Cantwell.
What does this mean for journalism?
News agencies such as Sirén and Vivalto send out news materials to various newsrooms in Sweden and also make available a selection of public documents, such as judgments, in their registers.
What does that mean for journalism? Get the answer in the clip above.
Tags: Decision harder news agencies spread sensitive information
