New Totalitarian Mass Surveillance Law in Denmark
The proposal gives Police Intelligence Service (PET) unprecedented powers to monitor and collect large amounts of data on all Danes.
Translated from B.T. article in Danish
A new bill from Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard (Social Democrats/Socialist Party) is now causing a stir among the parties in the Danish Parliament.
Several members are harshly criticizing the proposal, which, among other things, is called "a major threat to our free press and open democracy."
The proposal aims to give the Danish Police Intelligence Service (PET) unprecedented opportunities to monitor and collect large amounts of data on all Danes. It has been met with criticism by, among others, the Institute for Human Rights.
Specifically, PET - if the proposal is adopted - will be able to monitor, among other things, which websites you visit and what you write on social media. The intelligence service will also be able to access everything that is written about you in all state registers as well as find out where you go via location data from various apps.
"In our opinion, the proposal from the government includes, in our opinion, new and significant steps towards uncontrolled mass surveillance of the Danes, which Alternativet is deeply skeptical about," says Alternativet's legal representative.
Helene Brydensholt to B.T.
Enhedslisten's parliamentary reporter, Rosa Lund, is also very critical of the Minister of Justice's proposal.
“It is a big threat to our free press and open democracy if this bill is big on believers. We are totally against that in Enhedslisten,” says Rosa Lund to B.T. She points out that the proposal could also lead to PET gaining access to journalists' secret communications with sources.
From Peter Hummelgaard's government partner, Venstre, the rhetoric is somewhat more subdued. The party's judicial spokesperson, Preben Bang Henriksen, believes that it is important that PET has “the necessary tools”.
"But of course we listen if criticism is raised, and I also expect that the Ministry of Justice will closely read consultation responses and assess whether they give rise to changes," he says to B.T.
The Danish People's Party's judicial mayor Mette Thiesen agrees.
"When skilled lawyers say that you should look at the seams, you can't just reject it," says Mette Thiesen, who has also asked questions to the Minister of Justice about the matter.
At the Danish Democrats, representative Betina Kastbjerg says that she "has full confidence that the police know the balance" in relation to the use of surveillance.
B. T. has presented the various politicians' statements to Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard. In a written letter, he emphasizes, among other things, that "it is important to protect information that can reveal journalists' sources."
In addition, he states that the bill comes shortly after strengthened supervision of the intelligence services has come into force.
“The strengthened supervision took office on the basis of an agreement with a very broad majority of the Folketing, where we agreed in the same spirit to strengthen the parliamentary control of the services by, among other things, to ensure that several parties can be represented in the Committee regarding the Intelligence Services," reads the Minister of Justice in the written response.
The Ministry of Justice will read all consultation responses to the bill and "see what they give rise to," it says.
Law proposal can be accessed here:
Take notes, record enemies, prepare action plans for removal…. With prejudice…
They already do it. They want legal framework to use it against you in "court" . The 1st time I saw an all recording server was a Nokia one back in 2001. Absolutely illegal but they did it anyways.