CENTRUM FÖR RÄTTVISA v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT
43
serves to protect individuals’ personal integrity (cf. Roman Zakharov, cited
above, §§ 253-256; and Kennedy, cited above, §§ 162-164).
(vi) Conditions for communicating the intercepted data to other parties
(α) The parties’ submissions
148. The applicant submitted that the conditions for communicating data
left a large discretion to the FRA, for instance through the lack of
specification as regards the foreign authorities and international
organisations to whom data could be communicated.
149. The Government maintained that the procedures for
communicating data, including the communication to other states and
international organisations as part of Sweden’s international cooperation,
contained sufficient safeguards and that supervision was provided by the
Foreign Intelligence Inspectorate.
(β) The Court’s assessment
150. With regard to the communication of intercepted data to other
parties, the purpose of signals intelligence naturally demands that it may be
reported to concerned national authorities, in particular the authority which
ordered the mission. Furthermore, given the context – the collection of
intelligence on foreign circumstances that may have an impact on Swedish
national security and other essential national interests as well as the
country’s participation in international security operations – it is evident
that there must be a possibility of exchanging intelligence collected with
international partners. Thus, the FRA Personal Data Processing Act allows
the communication of personal data to other states or international
organisations if necessary for the activities of the FRA within international
defence and security cooperation and as long as it is not prevented by
secrecy. Further discretion is given to the Government, which may decide to
communicate personal data to states or organisations in other cases when
necessary for the activities of the FRA, thus presumably in cases where such
communication would otherwise be prevented by rules of secrecy. The FRA
Personal Data Processing Ordinance adds that such disclosure is permitted
for the benefit of the Swedish Government and Sweden’s comprehensive
defence strategy as long as it does not harm Swedish interests (see
paragraph 35 above). The relevant provision of the Public Access to
Information and Secrecy Act contains an exception to the rule of secrecy in
relation to foreign authorities and international organisations in cases where
an express legal provision allows disclosure or when the information in an
analogous situation may be given to a Swedish authority and the disclosing
authority finds it to be consistent with Swedish interests (paragraph 58).
Thus, whereas national interests are taken into account, the legislation does
not indicate that possible harm to the individual concerned must be