Public Access to Information and Confidentiality
On this page, you will find information about the principle of public access to information and how it applies to your work. There is also a detailed overview of the confidentiality provisions that you, as an employee at Stockholm University, need to be aware of.
Stockholm University is a public authority and is therefore required to adhere to the principle of public access. This principle is established in Chapter 2, Section 1 of the Freedom of the Press Act and ensures, among other things, that the everyone has the right to access official documents held by the University. The principle also includes the right to freedom of communication.
In addition to the information on these pages, we encourage you to review the following:
- Rules and procedure concerning responsibility for official documents and the disclosure process
- Guide to Administrative Case Management ("Handbok i ärendehandläggning", only in Swedish)
Watch our short informational videos on public access and confidentiality (only in Swedish)
What are public documents?
According to Chapter 2, Section 3 of the Freedom of the Press Act, a document is considered public if it is held by an authority and has either been received by the authority (Section 6) or drawn up by the authority (Section 7).
A "document" refers to any written or pictorial representation, as well as recordings that can only be accessed, read, or understood using technical means (Chapter 2, Section 3). This includes physical documents, such as paper records, as well as digital formats, such as tape recordings, video files, or information stored on hard drives or similar devices. Any material that contains information, regardless of its medium, is classified as a document.
For a document to be deemed public, it must be held by the authority at the time the request is made. Compilations of public documents are also regarded as held by the authority if they can be produced without undue effort and through routine procedures (Chapter 2, Section 3, second paragraph). However, compilations containing personal data are not considered to be held by the authority if the authority does not have the legal right to make such a compilation available.
A letter, email, or similar correspondence addressed to a specific individual is only considered to be in held by the authority if it pertains to a case or matter that falls under the authority’s responsibility.
A document is deemed to have been received when it has arrived at the authority’s premises or has been delivered to the appropriate official. A document is considered received even if the official is outside the authority’s premises at the time of receipt. There is no requirement for anyone at the authority to have reviewed the contents of the document for it to be classified as received. It is considered received as soon as it, for instance, arrives in the authority's inbox.
A document is deemed to have been drawn up when it has been dispatched. Dispatch of a document usually refers to the document being sent to a recipient outside the authority. A document that has not been dispatched is considered drawn up when the case to which it pertains has been concluded. A document that does not belong to a specific case is considered drawn up when it has been finalized or otherwise completed.
Example:
An exam paper submitted for grading is considered received and thereby becomes a public document.
An exam paper with grading comments, on the other hand, is considered drawn up and becomes a public document when the case is concluded, i.e., when the grade decision has been communicated.
Note:
Email logs, cookies (i.e., files containing information about which web pages a user has visited), and global files (records displaying address details of the websites a user has visited on the Internet) are, according to established practice, to be regarded as drawn up public documents
Drafts, notes, and similar documents are generally not considered public documents. However, if they are archived, their status changes. Therefore, ensure such materials are removed before the case is closed.
An internal email is generally not considered a public document. However, if the document adds substantive information to a case, is finalized (e.g., a final version shared for information purposes or a response to an internal survey), or is forwarded outside the authority (and thus dispatched), it is considered a public document.
Confidentiality Assessment and Decision of Refusal
Public documents may be either accessible to the public or contain confidential information. If someone requests access to a public document or information contained within it, you must always conduct a confidentiality review to determine whether parts or the entirety of the document t can be disclosed.
Information within public documents can either be public or confidential. The general rule is that all public documents are accessible. However, access can be restricted by provisions in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400), i.e., through confidentiality rules. For further details on the most common confidentiality rules applicable to documents held by the University, see the page Confidentiality Provisions at Stockholm University.
If someone requests access to a public document or information contained within it, you must always conduct a confidentiality assessment to determine whether the entire document or parts of it can be disclosed. If the public document is not confidential, it should be released immediately. A document containing confidential information should be released only in the parts that are public. If you need to redact confidential information in a document that is otherwise released, you must ensure that the confidential information cannot be accessed. It must be evident where and to what extent information has been redacted.
If you conclude that the requested information cannot be disclosed, either because it does not qualify as a public document or because it is partially or entirely covered by confidentiality, you must inform the requester of your assessment and the reasons why the document or parts of it cannot be released.
Note that you are also obligated to inform the individual of their right to a written decision of refusal.
Denial decisions are issued by the Chief Legal Counsel in accordance with the Decision and Delegation Procedures of Stockholm University. Contact the Legal Secretariat immediately when a denial decision needs to be made and transfer the matter for further processing.
Note:
Even if you deny only a single piece of information within a large set of documents, the individual still has the right to a written decision of refusal since they have not received exactly what they requested.
If the request concerns a document that does not exist, a written decision of refusal must still be offered.
Confidentiality Provisions at Stockholm University
In order to claim that a document is covered by confidentiality, you must be able to refer to an applicable confidentiality provision in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (OSL). The confidentiality provisions specify the interests that the confidentiality protects and the degree of protection it provides. Below, you will find a list of the most common confidentiality provisions applicable.
If you are uncertain whether confidentiality applies in a particular case, please contact the Division for Legal Affairs through Legal Advice (Serviceportalen). Fråga juristen.
Freedom to Communicate with the Media
The freedom to communicate with the media, as outlined in Chapter 1, Section 1, and Chapter 7, Section 3 of the Freedom of the Press Act, is part of the principle of public access to official documents. It allows employees of a public authority to contact the media and provide information about conditions at the authority or workplace for publication purposes.
The Purpose Must Be Publication
Public authorities are prohibited from investigating who disclosed information under the freedom to communicate with the media and from imposing any form of reprisal. However, this freedom does not apply if you are speaking on behalf of the authority.
The freedom to communicate with the media sometimes allows you to disclose information that is otherwise confidential. However, this does not apply to all types of confidentiality. If you knowingly or unknowingly disclose information that is classified and exempt from the freedom to communicate with the media, you will not be protected by its provisions.
Important Points to Consider:
The freedom to communicate with the media does not allow you to release documents—it applies only to the disclosure of information.
At the end of each chapter of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, you can find details about which confidentiality provisions prohibit disclosure despite the freedom to communicate with the media.
It is not the recipient of the information but the purpose of the disclosure that determines whether the freedom to communicate with the media applies.