Criticism of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, Skövde Probation Office, for informing a person on its own initiative of a request for access to official documents concerning him and, when doing so, disclosing information about the person who submitted the request. This action is deemed inappropriate given the constitutional right to anonymity afforded by Section 18 of Chapter 2 of the Freedom of the Press Act

Summary of the decision: On its own initiative, a probation office informed a client of a request for information concerning him and the identity of the person who submitted the request. The person requesting the information was subsequently contacted by the client. The Parliamentary Ombudsman deems this action to be inappropriate as it is incompatible with the constitutional right to anonymity afforded by Section 18 of Chapter 2 of the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act (SFS 1949:105) and criticises the probation service accordingly.