The icy location is a big advantage for the new data centre that Facebook is planning in the northern Swedish town of Lulea. But while the frigid Arctic winds will fan the servers, it’s the legal climate that could get hot.
A controversial Swedish internet surveillance law passed in 2008 allows the government there to intercept any internet traffic that passes Sweden’s borders with no need for a court warrant. It’s called the FRA law and the Swedes don’t like it, and Google called it “unfit for a Western democracy”. And the rest of Europe could start to get annoyed by it too when that internet traffic includes their Facebook data.
