This study shows that each Nordic country has its own approach to data retention regulation.
Currently, Norway stands out by limiting data retention rules solely to concern internet access services, regulating both the obligation to retain data and the access procedure in the electronic communications act. In the other end of the scale there is Denmark, where the data retention rules were revised with effect from 30 March 2022. In the Danish view, data retention belongs to the same family of interferences as secret coercive measures targeting private communication, and data preservation. Following the revision, the rules concerning these measures are all regulated in the same chapters in the Procedural Code (Retsplejeloven). Finland, Iceland, and Sweden apply a combined model, laying down data retention rules in the national electronic communications act, while the access procedure is set out in criminal procedural law.
In the report SOU 2023:22 “Data retention and access to electronic information” the Swedish rules are proposed revised along the lines settled for in Denmark. Pursuant to the law in force, Sweden permits use of retained data not only for investigation and prosecution of serious crime, but also to prevent, avert and detect such crime. The other Nordic countries limit data retention to concern investigation and prosecution of crime. The Swedish proposal suggest retained data to be available for intelligence purposes also in the future.
A general feature is that the regulation is quite complicated and sometimes hard to understand. Presumably this is due to the complexity of the field itself, however the legislative adherence to the principle of technology neutrality adds to the problem as it results in a high level of abstraction that makes the law less accessible to users. Finally, it seems doubtful that to integrate rules of data retention as part of the of e-com regulation is the most suitable approach given the discrepancy between the purpose of electronic communication regulation and the mandate of the police, and the widely different terminologies used in the respective fields of the law.