4 ms·

I have the opposite experience, I moved to Scandinavia (Sweden), and this is still one of the weirder things to me. I like the ideas of transparency in general

I have the opposite experience, I moved to Scandinavia (Sweden), and this is still one of the weirder things to me. I like the ideas of transparency in general that are prevalent, but I don't see how publishing the tax returns of individual citizens working in the private sector contributes to transparency.

Kiro 10y ago
The transparency goes a long way in Sweden. You can call the tax office and say "I want this person and all his relatives' social security numbers, income statements, address history etc etc". They can't question it and you don't need any reason.
- mchaver 10y ago
  Genuinely curious, have there ever been issues of people abusing this? It could possibly be an issue if someone wants to use that information to harass/follow/stalk someone.
  - Kiro 10y ago
    I've seen some pretty crazy doxing I think would be hard to do in other countries but I've never seen the system be questioned in media.
- ACS_Solver 10y ago
  I still don't see how this is a boost to transparency. I tend to think of transparency in terms of the government being transparent, not me being able to get information on random people. How does society as a whole benefit when I can check my neighbor's income? I'm also slightly uneasy with services like hitta.se, though I am not as paranoid as I used to be. It's possible to see the average income in some residential area as well. So if someone checks that, then checks the people living there individually, and notices that my income is significantly above average for the area, then my place is more attractive as a break-in target. It would seem more sensible to me if that information were available given a legitimate need, such as planning to make a deal with some person.
  - Kiro 10y ago
    Not saying anything about that. When I say "transparency" I mean it's public. Not putting any other value in the word.
manarth 10y ago
The advantage that I can see to that transparency is the potential for reducing income inequality based on gender, ethnicity, etc. Whether that's effective is another question.

Kiro 10y ago

The transparency goes a long way in Sweden. You can call the tax office and say "I want this person and all his relatives' social security numbers, income statements, address history etc etc". They can't question it and you don't need any reason.

mchaver 10y ago
Genuinely curious, have there ever been issues of people abusing this? It could possibly be an issue if someone wants to use that information to harass/follow/stalk someone.
- Kiro 10y ago
  I've seen some pretty crazy doxing I think would be hard to do in other countries but I've never seen the system be questioned in media.
ACS_Solver 10y ago
I still don't see how this is a boost to transparency. I tend to think of transparency in terms of the government being transparent, not me being able to get information on random people. How does society as a whole benefit when I can check my neighbor's income? I'm also slightly uneasy with services like hitta.se, though I am not as paranoid as I used to be. It's possible to see the average income in some residential area as well. So if someone checks that, then checks the people living there individually, and notices that my income is significantly above average for the area, then my place is more attractive as a break-in target. It would seem more sensible to me if that information were available given a legitimate need, such as planning to make a deal with some person.
- Kiro 10y ago
  Not saying anything about that. When I say "transparency" I mean it's public. Not putting any other value in the word.

manarth 10y ago

The advantage that I can see to that transparency is the potential for reducing income inequality based on gender, ethnicity, etc. Whether that's effective is another question.