Trygve Lundmo claims in a comment in Adresseavisen that the new electronic law will lead to mass surveillance of Norwegians, and worries whether the electronic service will be able to access digital communications with mistresses in Estonia or the neighbourhood. I can assure you that will not happen.
First, it will not store the content of the connection, but the metadata about the connection that crosses national borders. Data on Norwegian communications, such as those between neighbours, will be filtered to the extent possible. Second, repository searches require court approval.
The new law will enhance our national intelligence capabilities. Today, we rely on other countries with similar systems sharing information with us. We will discover more threats directed at us from the outside, and we will be better able to counter them. We are better protected from digital threats, as well as other threats that can be detected in the digital space, such as espionage, sabotage, hacking and terrorism.
The system should be used for foreign intelligence, not to monitor its population. It is a prerequisite.
The organized collection system was not used. The system has a number of security mechanisms around it. We agree that both the EOS Committee and the courts must be strengthened to be able to pursue the new electronic law. This work is in progress.
Authorities are concerned with protecting people’s privacy. At the same time, we are interested in protecting Norway from external threats. This is a very demanding balancing act, and we think we found a good balance.
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