The amendment to the law that the government wants means that the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) will soon be able to store everything that happens on the open internet in Norway.
– A step in the direction of a police state, says the leader of the justice committee, Per-Willy Amundsen (Frp) to Bergens Tidende.
Gives PST extended rights
In the Storting, Høgre secures a majority for the proposal which the Ap-Sp government presented before Christmasto amendments to the Police Register Act.
The law will give PST the opportunity to monitor, store and analyze large amounts of openly available information. They can use this to make analyzes and intelligence assessments, even if each individual piece of information is not necessary for the purpose.
In the bill, PST is tasked with “preparing analyzes and assessments of conditions in Norway that may threaten Norway’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, democratic form of government and other national security interests”.
– Eliminates the right to privacy
FRP, Venstre and SV are critical. The parties have joint comments on the bill.
Amundsen believes that March 2023 will be the month when the Storting “resolves the right to privacy”.
– It happens without a thorough analysis and without a public debate. The population does not know what is about to happen, he says, according to the newspaper.
Amundsen believes that such monitoring must only take place after a concrete assessment and after the courts have assessed the case.
Will follow extremist networks
According to the government, the amendment to the law is necessary in order for PST to be able to analyze changes in the threat picture so that they can uncover unknown threat actors and discover new dangers.
The committee’s majority (Ap, Høgre and Sp) indicates that the proposed legislative changes will strengthen PST’s possibilities to monitor extremist digital networks.
PST believes that the terrorist threat in the coming years will mainly come from individuals connected to such networks.
The majority believes it is important that PST is also given the opportunity to monitor compound threats, strategic acquisitions and report on new types of threats. They believe it is important that the legislation keeps pace with the digital development.
The majority believes that the law balances the consideration of national control and privacy “in a sensible way”.
After a consultation round, the storage period has been reduced from 15 to 5 years, but with the possibility of extending it to 15 years.
Fear of freedom of expression and privacy
The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has warned in its response to the hearing that the legislative change will give PST an almost unlimited opportunity to survey Norwegian citizens’ opinions, political stance, attitude and health.
Together with Norway’s institution for human rights (NIM), Tekna and the Advokatforeeninga, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority has warned that this could chill freedom of expression.
The minority (Frp, SV and Liberals) i the justice committee write in its recommendation that they fear that the law will mean a major encroachment on the right to privacy. They believe it will have consequences for freedom of expression, freedom of thought and freedom of information.
The minority fear that people will be reluctant to express themselves, share opinions and search for information on the internet when they know that the authorities are watching.
