Sweden has the fourth highest rate of internet users in the world, that’s 94% of their population connected to the web. They also rank well above most European countries in terms of cost and speed of consumer broadband connections.
VPN providers located in Sweden do not have to retain any data logs, or follow any EU Data retention regulations. This has made Sweden an optimal location for VPN companies to host servers, and contributed to the start of various Swedish VPN providers. It should be noted that Swedish ISPs do abide by the EU Data Retention regulations, and log data for a period of 6 months.
Sweden is known to have a transparent internet with minimal censorship. For a long time, copyright infringement was not really a concern with local laws until international pressure mounted and accumulate over years, mostly due to the very popular Pirate Bay torrent website. Torrent sharing has always been a very big thing in Sweden. A certain love for free information, and sharing to better world. VPNs can also used to play on non spelpaus casinos.
Over the course of the last decade, Sweden was criticized for having poor oversight of personal privacy of their citizens. Government surveillance programs have been implemented and augmented, and the privacy problem has never been clear to the public.
Sweden has their own spying agency called the Swedish Defence Radio Establishment (FRA), which is tightly controlled by the government. Similar to other international agencies, imposed regulations do not allow them to spy on Swedish citizens, and according to Edward Snowden’s documents, the agency trades information with other surveillance groups. To add worry, the Swedish press had reported a couple years ago that the government planned to allow police and other law agencies to wiretap and monitor digital communications in real-time without warrant.
Nowadays, the only way to ensure some level of privacy through data encryption on the web, is by using a VPN service. Sweden has many good VPN choices due to having a large amount of local access, along with fast internet speeds. Swedish users can benefit from security, and open access to the internet. Here are my top picks for the best VPNs for Sweden, and being that torrents may be a popular activity for Swedish users, all of the following providers allow P2P on at least some of their servers.
Ivacy – Full Review
Ivacy is a secure VPN that brings together high privacy protection, as well as flexibility that will allow you to overcome restrictions, no matter where you are. To keep your data privacy, Ivacy uses AES-256-CBC cipher combined with a standard RSA-2048 key. The provider has servers in over 100 locations, including Sweden. It allows you to connect up to 5 devices at the same time and it has a no logs policy. Ivacy provides consistently good speeds.
ExpressVPN – Full Review
If you’re looking for a larger global coverage, ExpressVPN provides servers in 97 locations across 78 countries, including Sweden and all neighboring regions. The service promises to deliver fast speeds, with a network designed for streaming and performance. Security is solid through ExpressVPN’s software clients using OpenVPN. ExpressVPN has a higher price, but you get every dollar’s value. Customer service is available 24/7, SmartDNS is included for game consoles and AppleTV, and up to 4 different types of devices can connect to one account: 1 computer, 1 smartphone/tablet, 1 VPN router, and 1 streaming console.
Private Internet Access – Full Review
For the best bang for your buck, I highly suggest to have a look at Private Internet Access. They have coverage across 29 regions and 18+ countries, including Sweden. Swedish users can save money with PIA by choosing the ridiculously cheap yearly plan that comes to $3.33 per month, and allows for 5 simultaneous connections. They also have great customer support, and advanced software with a VPN kill-switch and DNS leak protection.
Although the list of countries is shorter, the bandwidth available ensures very good speeds at all hours. Swedish servers are very fast and neighboring servers in France, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany, provide great regional speeds.
NordVPN – Full Review
Panama based NordVPN is a great choice for a privacy conscious consumer that does not want to use a VPN that may be under U.S. or EU data retention pressure. They provide an excellent network of servers that can be monitored on their website. A Tor+VPN server is available in Sweden, as well a Double VPN Austria server, providing double the security by encrypting data twice.
The service uses 256-bit AES encryption over OpenVPN with very competitive prices. Up to 2 simultaneous connections can be used per account.
CyberGhost – Full Review
CyberGhost has more than 3000 servers in over 50 countries, and of course, Sweden is one of them. You can enjoy fast performance, high security and all the features needed to ensure that you get the most out of your internet experience. You will be able to overcome restrictions, no matter where you are. CyberGhost supports P2P and offers technology that will allow you to defeat blocks and protect your privacy at all times. It doesn’t keep any logs that could compromise your privacy.
Surfshark – Full Review
Surfshark is designed to provide high protection for your privacy, as well as fast performance that will allow you to overcome restrictions and enjoy your favorite international content. You can connect to servers in over 50 countries, including Sweden and thanks to the advanced technology used, you won’t have issues bypassing restrictions, even in countries where VPNs are blocked. Surfshark allows you to have as many simultaneous connections as you want.
