Now we have brought traffic data storage all the way here

Traffic data retention was debated in Parliament today. The question of whether the invasion of privacy is proportionate to the benefits for the police in solving crimes was left unanswered. Moderate MP Ulrika Karlsson gave several examples of crimes that have been solved with the help of traffic data as an illustration of how important this legislation is.

But hey, these examples are cleared up with the help of the information available today and no argument for introducing the EU directive itself. If information already exists, the very unrealistic timetable that the law will apply from May 1 seems even more difficult to understand.

Sweden has been convicted in the EU for failing to implement the EU directive and to date is threatened with 70 million kronor in fines, about 10,000 euros per day. In the Government's objection to the judgment, it was argued that Sweden already meets the requirements in practice. Given this argument, the rush to implement the EU directive seems strange.

Things got even stranger when Johan Linander (C) pointed out that Sweden, as an EU member, has no choice but to implement the EU directive. The implication was that this law should really have been created nationally based on the actual storage that already takes place and which seems to meet the needs of the police, but that it is now only possible to adapt Sweden to the EU directive.

Cecilia Malmström, the EU commissioner responsible for traffic data retention, said on Saturday that the EU directive is a "shambles" that needs an overhaul and that the impact in the countries where it has been implemented has not been clear.

I left the Swedish Parliament with a strange feeling that Sweden is introducing the EU directive in Sweden with great haste rather to save penalty money than because it is very well thought out and meets requirements that cannot be handled today. Who will be affected? The telecom operators who will incur extra costs, which will affect subscribers and, last but not least, a risky handling of data that affects the entire Swedish population.