SFS 2001:99
Official Statistics Act
Promulgated on 15 March 2001.
-- Unofficial translation provided by Statistics Sweden --
In accordance with the decision of the Swedish Parliament (Footnote 1) the following is prescribed.
Footnote 1: Government Bill 2000/01:27, Committee Report 2000/01:FiU15, Parliamentary Communication 2000/01:151.
Area of application, etc.
Section 1. This Act contains provisions on official statistics.
Provisions indicating the authorities responsible for official statistics (statistical authorities) are communicated by the Government.
The provisions in Sections 14, 15 and 19 apply equally to the production of other statistics by a statistical authority.
Section 2. The Personal Data Act (1998:204) applies to the production of statistics in so far as the provisions in this Act do not diverge from the Personal Data Act.
Section 3. The purposes that official statistics are intended to serve are public information, inquiry and analysis, and research. Official statistics shall be objective and available to the general public.
Section 4. When official statistics are made available they shall be accompanied by the designation Official Statistics of Sweden or by the symbol shown in the Annex to this Act. The use of this designation or symbol is reserved exclusively for official statistics.
Protection of information
Section 5. When official statistics are produced and published, account shall be taken of the need to protect the interests of physical and legal persons.
Provisions on secrecy are given in the Secrecy Act (1980:100).
Provisions on the protection of the personal integrity of individuals from violation by the processing of personal data are given in the Personal Data Act (1998:204).
Section 6. The information contained in official statistics may not be combined with other information with a view to ascertaining the identity of individuals.
Duty to supply information
Persons carrying on business
Section 7. For the purposes of official statistics, persons carrying on business are required to supply information regarding:
1. the name and civic or corporate registration number of the person carrying on the business,
2. goods produced and services provided,
3. goods consumed and services utilised,
4. number of employees and their employment situation, wages or salaries and occupations,
5. stocks and stores kept,
6. investments,
7. orders, purchases, sales and deliveries of goods and services,
8. prices of goods and services,
9. income and expenses,
10. imports and exports,
11. energy use,
12. assets and liabilities,
13. capital, credit and currency position, and savings
14. extent of grants of enjoyment,
15. environmental protection costs.
Section 8. Persons carrying on agricultural, forestry or horticultural businesses or who keep livestock shall, over and above the information indicated in Section 7, supply information regarding:
1. register number, area, land use and ownership and leasehold position pertaining to the property or part of the property where the business is carried on,
2. employment situation of persons working in the business and year in which their employment started,
3. livestock kept.
Section 9. The owner of a property where another person is carrying on such business as is referred to in Section 8 shall supply information on the name and address of that person and on the area of land used in the business.
Foundations and others
Section 10. Foundations, non-profit organisations and registered faith communities not carrying on business shall, for purposes of official statistics, supply the information referred to in Section 7, sub-sections 1 and 4.
Municipalities and county councils
Section 11. Municipalities and county councils shall, for purposes of official statistics, supply the information referred to in Section 7, sub-sections 1-7. Municipalities are required in addition to supply information from their annual accounts for purposes of official statistics.
Common provisions
Section 12. The information referred to in Sections 7-11 need not be supplied if the circumstances to which the data relates are more than three years old.
Section 13. The information referred to in Sections 7-11 shall be supplied to the relevant statistical authority.
Processing of personal data
Section 14. A statistical authority may process personal data to produce statistics unless otherwise indicated in Section 15. When engaging in such processing, the authority bears responsibility for personal data under the Personal Data Act (1998:204).
Processing of personal data may include information on civic registration numbers.
Section 15. The personal data referred to in Section 13 and Section 21, paragraph 1, of the Personal Data Act (1998:204) may be processed if this follows from regulations communicated by the Government.
Release of information in certain cases
Section 16. When a statistical authority releases data that are not directly attributable to an individual person, the authority is entitled to attach to the data, in connection with its release, a reference number that the statistical authority can link to a civic registration number or equivalent so as to make it possible to supplement the information at a later date. Such a measure may be taken if the party to whom the data are released plans to use these data for research or statistics and has a particular need to be able to supplement the information at a later date.
If a piece of information has been corrected, blocked or eradicated in the records of the statistical authority, the authority shall take the measures required to enable the data to be altered in the records of the party to whom the data has been released.
Section 17. Data released in such cases as are referred to in Section 16, paragraph 1, may be processed by the party to whom the data is released solely for purposes of research or statistics.
Section 18. The party who has received personal data pursuant to Section 16, paragraph 1, is not under any obligation to inform the person to whom the records refer that the data is being processed, unless the party processing the data him or herself is in a position to take steps to identify the subject of the records. Nor is the party processing the data required to correct, block or eradicate data at the request of the subject of the record.
Elimination
Section 19. Personal data are to be eliminated from the records by the statistical authorities when the data are no longer required for the purpose for which they were originally intended.
The Government or the authority appointed by the Government may order exceptions from this obligation if an elimination of records would put at risk the role of the archive as a part of the national cultural heritage or would conflict with the requirements of research. In such cases particular attention must be paid to the need to protect the personal integrity of the individual.
Material that is not eliminated shall be transferred to the keeping of an archival authority.
Sanctions, etc.
Section 20. If a person who is required to supply information under Sections 7-10 does not fulfil that duty, the authority that has requested the data may demand that the person in question do so.
A person required to supply information who does not comply with this demand may be ordered to fulfil the duty to supply information, subject to a fine in the event of failure to do so. Notice of such orders will be given by the authority that has issued the demand.
Section 21. Matters relating to the imposition of fines that have been ordered under Section 20, paragraph 2, shall be examined by the county administrative court within whose jurisdiction the duty to supply information is to be fulfilled.
Section 22. If the symbol for official statistics or the designation Official Statistics of Sweden, or any other symbol or designation that is liable to be mistaken for the official symbol or designation, is used for any purpose other than official statistics, an ordinary court of law can prohibit the continued use of the symbol or designation, subject to a fine.
The authority appointed by the Government shall bring the case for such a prohibition before the court.
Redress and damages
Section 23. If personal data are processed in a manner that contravenes either the provisions of this Act or other regulations communicated pursuant to this Act, the same provisions for redress and damages apply as in the Personal Data Act (1998:204).
Appeals
Section 24. No appeal may be made against any decision made under this Act regarding a demand for the supply of information or the ordering of a fine or the inclusion of a person in a statistical survey. Appeals may be brought against other decisions in a general administrative court.
Leave to appeal is required before taking an appeal to the Administrative Court of Appeal.
Liability, etc.
Section 25. A person who fails to fulfil the duty to supply information pursuant to Sections 7-10 of this Act or who supplies incorrect information, whether deliberately or as a result of negligence, shall be ordered to pay a fine of not more than SEK 1000.
Actions covered by an order subject to a fine shall not constitute a punishable offence in the event of contravention of the order.
A public prosecution may be brought only on the instigation of the relevant statistical authority.
Section 26. A person contravening Section 6 of this Act shall be found guilty of unauthorised identification and shall be fined or sentenced to imprisonment for a maximum of one year, unless the action constitutes a punishable offence under the Criminal Code or the Personal Data Act (1998:204). In minor cases persons will not be found liable.
Supplementary regulations
Section 27. The Government will communicate supplementary regulations regarding official statistics.
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1. This Act enters into force on 1 April 2001. It supersedes and nullifies the following earlier Acts:
a) the Duty of Agricultural Enterprises to Supply Information Act (1992:888),
b) the Official Statistics Act (1992:889),
c) the Act regarding the Use of Certain Personal Registers for Purposes of Official Statistics (1995:606).
2. The provisions in Sections 14 and 15 of the Official Statistics Act (1992:889) continue to apply in the case of actions committed prior to 1 April 2001.
3. With regard to the processing of personal data covered by the Data Act (1973:289), in place of the provisions in Section 2 and Section 5, paragraph 3, of this Act, the equivalent provisions in the Data Act shall apply up to and including 30 September 2001.
4. In cases and matters involving fines, where an order has been made prior to 1 April 2001 under the Duty of Agricultural Enterprises to Supply Information Act (1992:888) or the Official Statistics Act (1992:889), that Act shall apply.
5. Decisions regarding exceptions from the elimination regulation that have been communicated under the Act regarding the Use of Certain Personal Registers for Purposes of Official Statistics (1995:606) remain valid.