The National Heritage Board sees accessibility on the Internet as a resource. Information and knowledge are the best protection for our cultural heritage.

The National Heritage Board provides information on the Internet concerning registered ancient sites - graves, lime-ovens, find-places, wrecks, etc, etc, - through the digital search engine "Fornsök".

We at the National Heritage Board consider that even if Fornsök did not exist, criminals would still find the information they need since there is a market for these objects. The details in Fornsök are not secret. They belong to documents that anyone can request from the district county councils or National Heritage Board.

To make documents that concern ancient sites inaccessible would require support from the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, equivalent to that which exists for threatened species of plants and animals. Such legislation does not exist today. It is questionable if such a change in legislation is desirable. The most fundamental protection for the cultural heritage and cultural environment is the knowledge and involvement of the general public.

We are aware that accessibility to information can have negative effects. We deal with this in many ways. We collaborate with the local county authorities, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), the police, and many others, on the best way to counteract it. In Fornsök it is possible to hide precise details about a site's location and no field information is provided for some sensitive finds.

This must always be weighed against the positive effects gained when as many as possible know about a site. Our view is that information, knowledge, involvement and interest by and for all, are the best protection for the cultural heritage.

See also:
Cultural heritage crime
Fornsök