Background checks that involve criminal convictions and offences (i.e. personal data subject to Article 10 GDPR) have historically been difficult to process by Swedish employers. This has been particularly challenging in the private sector. The legal barriers to conduct background checks have increased due to recent developments in case law, such as the Swedish Supreme Court’s ruling in February 2025 (see here) and the general advocate’s opinion in C-199/24.
Within the current regulatory environment, most Swedish employers have to rely on a service provider that has a permit from the Swedish DPA to process criminal convictions and offences to conduct background checks. These permits are typically heavily restricted, encompassing only a right to check candidates (not existing employees) and only those candidates that apply for specific roles (e.g., key positions within the company). Furthermore, the scope of criminal convictions and offences that the service provider with a permit may check on behalf of a Swedish employer is also very limited. These limitations collectively result in these background checks not being particularly effective for most Swedish employers.
This situation has led to growing political pressure to make the Swedish legal framework for background checks more flexible. The government has now responded by initiating a broad inquiry to the matter (Dir. 2025:83). The inquiry will consider, amongst other things, whether employers with legitimate needs should be given clearer legal grounds to perform background checks on candidates, consultants, suppliers and existing employees. The expected intention here is to provide employers with a wider margin to conduct such checks.
Per the inquiry, a report is planned to be published by 11 March 2027 at the latest. Considering that several legislative steps have to be taken after that point, including referral for comments, a government report (SOU) and a government bill, it will likely take years before any actual legislative changes come into effect. During this period, unless the Swedish DPA decides to issue wider permits to, for example, service providers (or if case law develops in a new direction), most Swedish employers will likely remain unable to carry out effective background checks.
