Demonstrators gathered at Parliament steps on Thursday to contest a bill they say clashes with the constitution. The bill aims to prevent information leaks in companies, however, critics say the risk of unnecessary snooping is too high -- and that real corporate spies would never use their company e-mail accounts for transferring sensitive information.
"Lex Nokia goes against our constitution," says Jukka Lahti, one of the hundreds of demonstrators who turned out for the protest on Thursday.
"I'm opposed to Lex Nokia because it gives too many rights to people that shouldn't have them. If there are suspected crimes, then police should be the ones to handle them,” says demonstrator Leena Romppainen.
Parliament's Constitutional Law Committee as well as the Transport and Communications Committee have given the bill the green light. However many legal experts have criticised the legislation, saying it contravenes employees’ rights, but Kimmo Sasi, Chair of the Constitutional Law Committee, says the bill has been very carefully studied and that it meets European legal standards.
Sasi also underscores that present laws on protecting trade secrets are far too lax and stresses the importance of safeguarding corporate innovation, which gives Finnish companies their competitive edge.
"We want to protect intellectual secrets. Companies' special archives with confidential information need to be protected. People must be prohibited from removing information via memory stick, print or e-mail," explains Kimmo Sasi.
Passage of the Lex Nokia bill through parliament seems a foregone conclusion but some claim it has secretly received a big behind the scenes push from industry.