More comprehensive criminal liability for attacks on trade secrets
Broader criminal liability for attacks on trade secrets, including biometric searches of the Migration Agency's registers
What's at stake: The proposal is meant to give law enforcement better tools against state-directed disclosure of technical trade secrets - a crime that is hard to investigate and that harms Swedish companies' research and competitiveness, and thus jobs and security. The price is an intrusion on privacy: fingerprints and photos people submitted in migration cases may be used in criminal investigations, which affects a large group who are not suspected of anything.
Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.
What the vote decides
The question is whether the government's bill on criminal liability for attacks on trade secrets should be adopted in full, including the power to run biometric comparisons against the Migration Agency's registers of fingerprints and photographs, or whether that part should be rejected on privacy grounds.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee holds that parliament should adopt the government's bill, with one editorial change, and reject the motion. Law enforcement needs effective tools to investigate state-directed unlawful disclosure of technical trade secrets, since it is a crime that is hard to investigate, and the committee judges that the government has struck an appropriate balance between the need for and expected benefit of biometric comparisons against the Migration Agency's registers on the one hand and the privacy intrusion this entails on the other. It therefore backs allowing biometric comparison against the Migration Agency's registers of fingerprints and photographs for such crime. Otherwise the committee notes that no motion opposes the legislative proposals in substance; the change is that the new offence designation in section 26 a of the Trade Secrets Act must be underlined so that the italics remain when the act is published.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 1 (MP)
The reservation (MP) wants to safeguard personal privacy and limit the use of the Migration Agency's registers for law enforcement. It therefore wants to reject the government's proposed amendment to the act on police processing of personal data under the Criminal Data Act, while adopting the other legislative proposals.
Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.
V–
S–
MP–
C–
L–
KD–
M–
SD–
YesNoAbstainAbsent
What do the votes mean here?
Yes The committee proposal: adopting the government's legislative proposal and rejecting the motions (keeping things as they are).
No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 1 by MP.
Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.
The plan's stance / Actual vote
AI
Vote
Confidence
Evidence
V
–
Yes 16/1/0/5
S
–
Yes 93/0/0/13
MPown reservation
–
No 0/14/0/4
C
–
Yes 20/0/0/4
L
–
Yes 12/0/0/4
KD
–
Yes 16/0/0/3
M
–
Yes 60/0/0/8
SD
–
Yes 61/0/0/11
Broke with the party line
VIda Gabrielsson(V, Stockholms kommun)
No — party line: Yes
MPs whose vote differs from their party's majority position in this division. Marked with a dark ring in the chamber view.
Committee proposal
Parliament adopts the government's proposals for
1. act amending the act (2018:558) on trade secrets, with the change that the term "unlawful use or unlawful disclosure of technical trade secret" in section 26 a first paragraph shall be replaced with "unlawful use or unlawful disclosure of technical trade secret",
2. act amending the code of judicial procedure,
3. act amending the act (2007:979) on measures to prevent certain particularly serious crimes,
4. act amending the act (2024:562) on amendment of the act (2007:979) on measures to prevent certain particularly serious crimes,
5. act amending the act (2012:278) on gathering of information on electronic communications in the crime prevention authorities' intelligence activities,
6. act amending the act (2018:1693) on the police's processing of personal data within the crime database area,
7. act amending the act (2024:326) on secret coercive measures for the purpose of enforcing custodial sentences.
Parliament thereby approves Proposition 2024/25:208 points 1-7 and rejects motion
2025/26:209 by Amanda Palmstierna et al. (MP).
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen antar regeringens förslag till
1. lag om ändring i lagen (2018:558) om företagshemligheter, med den ändringen att uttrycket ”olovligt utnyttjande eller olovligt röjande av teknisk företagshemlighet” i 26 a § första stycket ska bytas ut mot ”olovligt utnyttjande eller olovligt röjande av teknisk företagshemlighet”,
2. lag om ändring i rättegångsbalken,
3. lag om ändring i lagen (2007:979) om åtgärder för att förhindra vissa särskilt allvarliga brott,
4. lag om ändring i lagen (2024:562) om ändring i lagen (2007:979) om åtgärder för att förhindra vissa särskilt allvarliga brott,
5. lag om ändring i lagen (2012:278) om inhämtning av uppgifter om elektronisk kommunikation i de brottsbekämpande myndigheternas underrättelseverksamhet,
6. lag om ändring i lagen (2018:1693) om polisens behandling av personuppgifter inom brottsdatalagens område,
7. lag om ändring i lagen (2024:326) om hemliga tvångsmedel i syfte att verkställa frihetsberövande påföljder.
Därmed bifaller riksdagen proposition 2024/25:208 punkterna 1-7 och avslår motion
2025/26:209 av Amanda Palmstierna m.fl. (MP).
Riksdag decision: Parliament approved the government's proposal to criminalize unlawful use and disclosure of technical trade secrets. The decision means that it becomes punishable to without permission use or disclose trade secrets, even when the person through, for example, their employment had lawful access to the information.
The criminalization applies to technical trade secrets, that is trade secrets that are important for technical development. This can, for example, involve drawings, processes or research results.
The law changes begin to apply on January 1, 2026.
Counter-proposals
The counter-proposal wants to protect personal integrity and limit the use of the Migration Board's register for crime-fighting. (MP) — Reservation 1
Motion 2025/26:209 — med anledning av prop. 2024/25:208 Ett mer heltäckande straffansvar vid angrepp på företagshemligheter av Amanda Palmstierna m.fl. (MP)
Proposition 2024/25:208 — Ett mer heltäckande straffansvar vid angrepp på företagshemligheter