Somebody's Watchin' Me...

In Sweden, everyone has something called a personnummer, which, you guessed it, is a personal number akin to our American social security numbers.  Without a personnummer in Sweden you might as well not exist.  You can't open a bank account, go to the doctor, sign a cell phone contract, get a library card, open a gym membership, or even rent a movie without one.  The one major difference here in Sweden seems to be that sharing your personnummer with others is absolutely no big deal, unlike in the US where we guard our social security numbers with our lives lest someone assume our identity, take out five credit cards in our name, wipe out our bank account, and ruin life as we know it.

Having a personnummer also means that the Swedish government is essentially tracking your every move, which I just can't help feeling a bit creeped out about.  Coming from a country where people hide their phone numbers and addresses at all costs to evade the hordes of rabid stalkers and rapists that prowl the streets, I have a hard time being okay with the fact that I can't do anything important without it being noted and kept track of by strangers.

In addition to the government keeping track of your personnummer, there are a bunch of search websites in Sweden like www.hitta.se where you can type in a name, phone number, or address and immediately get that person's personal information.  When I hitta'd myself, up popped my name, address, cell phone number, birthday, and a handy dandy little map straight to my house.

I'm torn on this one...it feels so creepy to know that all my information is just hanging out there, like my underwear is sticking out or something.  But on the other hand, Swedes are typically very prone to walking around unashamed in their underwear, or sharing their personal information with whoever wants to see it.  I feel privileged to be able to live in such a safe and organized country...but still....