Security News > 2020 > August > The Viking Snowden: Denmark spy chief 'relieved of duty' after whistleblower reveals illegal snooping on citizens

Denmark's top foreign intelligence chief has been suspended for spying on Danish citizens illegally for up to six years after a whistleblower released a trove of documents to government regulators.

In a press release yesterday, the independent regulator of the Danish security services said it had received information from a whistleblower in November that revealed the country's foreign intelligence service "Had withheld key and crucial information," and given "Incorrect information on matters relating to the collection of the service and disclosure of information."

The Danish government announced that head of the Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste service, Lars Findsen, as well as two senior officials that focused on military intelligence - and who were not named - had been "Relieved of duty for the time being."

Faced with requests for information on the illegal activity, it appears that the FE and Findsen decided to brazen it out and claim they had no relevant documents.

Snowden is still a wanted man and despite the spy programs he exposed later being ruled unconstitutional, no one within the NSA or related intelligence services was ever suspended - even after the US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied in Congress about US domestic surveillance.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/08/25/denmark_domestic_spying/