Sweden is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. Though it is known that Sweden is very progressive, their data collection policy is not. Whereas many nations in Europe do not collect data, Sweden seems to have a fairly extensive policy for keeping track of it’s citizens. In other words, the Swedish government does track data and is allowed to retain the data if it feels it needs to. In addition to that rule, Sweden passed a controversial anti-piracy law they call the IPRED. The law gives copyrights holders the authority to request the personal details of alleged infringers. Those are two wonderful reasons to use a VPN.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 95 | |
| 4 |  | 9.0 | 110 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 73 | |
When the IPRED law took effect in 2009, internet traffic dropped by a startling 60% in Sweden. Rights holders championed the law and felt it would make a big dent in online piracy, based on that percentage. This law re-opens prior ways and increases accountability by giving the rights back to the rights holder. However, for the normal Swedish user, the response was much less enthusiastic. Most internet users were against the IPRED law when it came out, despite seeing a need for it. The law also spooked many people that downloaded content at first, so the drop is not surprising. One of the reasons was the belief that IPRED would yield 400-800 cases a year. The reality of the law tells a different story.
Sweden has a notoriously slow judicial system. In addition to that, the number of cases brought from 2009-2012 totaled eleven, and three of those were rejected. There is nothing to stop that number from going up in the future, however. Slow or not, the law is still there and will be enforced sooner or later. You do not have to live in fear though. Conveniently, virtual private networks are excluded from this law.
VPNs will help you in Sweden in at least two ways. Let’s talk about privacy first. The Swedish government and it’s pervasive monitoring program is one of the toughest in Europe. Like some other countries, they can and will retain data if they see the need to. Compare that to other countries like the Netherlands that do not keep or retain records on things like that. A VPN service will add encryption to your browsing and secure your data. VPNs will also assist you by unblocking content.
If you are familiar with the premium streaming service Netflix, it launched in Sweden in 2012. Even though the Swedish version of Netflix has almost 2200 titles, that is just over 1/4th the number of titles in the US. Of course, as with any premium streaming service, you would need a paid subscription as well. A VPN would help you view content that you would not normally have access to because of geo-blocking. Geo-blocking is used to limit streaming to a certain area based on location. What if you are traveling to Sweden and want access to the shows you normally watch or if you are from there and want to stay current on your favorite programming? Just simply connect to a VPN in the area you wish and stream as much as you want.
The advantages to using a VPN in Sweden are clear. There are many choices in the types of VPNs to pick, but we have some great selections for Sweden. All of them have custom clients so you would simply choose a country to connect to, hit the button, and enjoy all the benefits we have listed and more. These suggestions all use secure encryption levels, however, using the OpenVPN protocol will always be your best decision. OpenVPN (UDP) is best for streaming.
For traveling outside of Sweden, you will want to stay current on your favorite shows, so we recommend ExpressVPN or PIA. Both encrypt traffic, but ExpressVPN includes MediaStreamer (SmartDNS) with their VPN which will help you unblock channels without the overhead of encryption. Why not be able to see your favorite channels like Heaven TV 7, SVT Play Rapport, or even SVT Play Bolibompa for the kids?
You are welcome to investigate our list of top 10 VPN services if you want to see what else we recommend. The choices we have listed here are great for a few reasons. We picked these selections over other leading VPN services based on security, server locations, speed, and price. We also looked for services with a good network of VPN servers in the region for you.
Reliable VPN providers are those that help secure your online privacy, and have fast networks to stream HD content in other countries. The ones we have mentioned in this post are the best VPNs overall for whatever goal you wish to achieve. Unblock your geo-blocked content, and surf the web in Sweden with a VPN.