Sweden's freedom of information laws lead to wave of deadly bombings
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
This report seems to leave out two important details:
1) how dependent are the bombers on using this public information? Is it essential now, or do they get the information from other means?
2) if it were shut down, how laborious are the alternatives? Data brokers already sell address data, and private investigators can follow someone home. It just doesn't seem expensive enough to dissuade a criminal organization from carrying out a bombing.
It appears to have nothing to do with high-trust environments.
This information is cheap to determine even in medium- and low-trust environments using a data broker, street informant, or by trailing someone. It's not like criminal gangs couldn't target the relatives of gang members before computer search or published telephone directories with addresses.
You can tell it's a misdirection because it's not even believed Soha Saad - the woman in the lede who died in the bombing - was target of the bombing, and people aren't sure why the bombing took place, much less that it depended on public address information. It looks like her tragedy is being used as emotional cover for the link claimed in the headline.
There is no support for the link beyond "Experts say criminals are being greatly helped by a 248-year-old law, forming part of Sweden’s constitution." -- who are those experts?
The only named person supporting that change is "Lena Södersten, a lawyer at the Swedish Homeowners Association". She does not appear to be one of those experts.
Once these assumptions no longer prove tenable I (or Swedish society) must change my behavior. Drive defensibly or as little ad possible, walk outside only where there are police, avoid dangerous individuals, take down my personal info.
All the above have consequences for society of course. Less economic activity, less personal interaction as people hide themselves, etc.