I want to know how much you earn because you are applying for a job with my company and I want to check what your present employer thinks you are worth.
This is easy to do in Sweden, and you as the data subject have no idea that this has happened. It is possible for any person to go online and request anonymously your earnings for 2 completed tax years in Sweden at http://www.extrakoll.se/, and the requester to get the information by SMS.
How do you do this is:
- Visit www.extrakoll.se and search for the name of the individual you are investigating;
- Then you will be requested to send an SMS to number 72323 with word INKOMST+code or/and STORKOLL+code;
- You are given choices of payment methods, 20kr or 40kr, depending on which option you choose;
- The earnings for the targeted person for 2 of the previously reported tax years will be sent to your mobile telephone!
There is no way you can prevent others from requesting this information on yourself.
Nevertheless, it is against the EU Directive on Data Protection because you, the data subject are not informed that this information has been requested, and your Personal Identifying Information (PII) is public domain. I am sure identity thieves find extrakoll.se a useful tool to research their victims. I just hope it’s not you!