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Given that the nordics are one of the most transparent societies, is there any scope that these governments may be in breach of GDPR, for example with respect to default disclosure positions on things like;

  • Public tax report disclosure.
  • Automatically updating one's address with registered corporates who have access to the personal ID number system.
  • Purchasing property and national public register.

It seems to me that this kind of information is personal and digital.

In addition does this open to door to anyone collecting and storing data on my person, e.g. my address, by citing the fact that the information is actually freely available on nationally disclosed registers?

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The examples you cite are all based on national law in Sweden and other Nordic countries.

If you check GDPR Article 7(1)(e), you will see that processing is lawful if:

processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;

Further down in the same article, you'll see that not only Union law, but also:

Member State law to which the controller is subject

apply.

GDPR Article 7(1)(e) is controversial and there is also a note that

The Union or the Member State law shall meet an objective of public interest and be proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued.

There has been attempts by privacy advocates to stop some of these transparency practices (in particular public tax report disclosure) by arguing that they do not meet this criterion, but so far these challenges have been unsuccessful.

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