alt Hacker NewsOk, some important context for non-Swedes. Anyone can get access to all Swedish (non-protected but those are a very VERY small subset) personal identification numbers by simply signing an agreement with SPAR[1] (the Swedish national people database). Identification numbers per se are not particularly useful or hard to get, they are effectively public information. Using SPAR you can also get the home (and any additional) addresses of individuals
A Swedish citizen database is... you know. fun. But not exactly hard to get hold of.
[1] https://www.statenspersonadressregister.se/master/start/engl...
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Identification numbers per se are not particularly useful or hard to get, they are effectively public information
They are absolutely trivial to get. One click on mrkoll.se.
> by simply signing an agreement with SPAR
But that seems like a completely different thing than a nefarious and anonymous person or group having access to the entire database.
I think this is good to highlight for non-Scandinavians.
Scandinavian countries are extremely open and transparent in a way that might be shocking for Americans. For example, in Norway, I can check nearly anyone's brokerage account holdings, addresses, phone numbers, etc. on public websites. I can in theory look up anyone's tax filings.
Personal identification numbers do not tend to be considered private in the same way that social security numbers in the US are.