- People are logged in as themselves.

You can see who is talking to whom, you can see organizational structures, says Krister Dackland, IT manager at the Swedish Public Employment Service about the program.

Teams is a video tool that has become part of many Swedes' pandemic day.

But the application stores personal information about the users on servers in the USA. 

- And already there, we see that it is not legal to do it as Teams looks today, says Daniel Melin, strategist at the Swedish Tax Agency.

Following a notorious ruling in the EU a year ago, the so-called Schrems II ruling, the European Court of Justice found that US cloud services do not reach the level of security required by the EU Data Protection Regulation, GDPR.

Can be requested by the CIA

The data management there may also be in conflict with Sweden's publicity and secrecy legislation.

That interpretation is now made by several authorities, which Computer Sweden was the first to tell about.

Personal information about Swedes in the cloud on the other side of the Atlantic could be requested by, for example, the American intelligence service.

- We have decided not to actually use Teams at all.

But our employees can participate in external meetings, says Krister Dackland. 

And the Swedish Tax Agency makes a similar analysis.

- It is a risk we can not take, says Daniel Melin.

Should find alternatives

Eight authorities have therefore joined forces in a working group to find other IT tools with the aim of presenting alternatives for the autumn.

At the same time, Microsoft plans to move personal data to the EU by the end of 2022. But there is also frustration.

- I think the EU and the US that own this issue must try to agree.

And I also believe that the United States needs to strengthen data protection for European citizens, says Daniel Akenine, Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Sweden.

Used by other authorities

A number of authorities, including several universities, are less restrictive about Microsoft Teams.

Halmstad University uses the program but avoids discussing sensitive tasks there.

"We are awaiting the initiatives that the EU is taking to resolve this. The costs would be enormous for Sweden's companies and authorities if we can not use cloud solutions ", writes Louise Wandel, communicator at the university in an email to SVT.