The police inspector has been convicted by the Skaraborg District Court on 21 counts of data hacking. The acts are said to have continued for several years, and he is said to have obtained the information on behalf of another person.
The police deny wrongdoing and say the searches were carried out to help the public, but the court ruled they were not part of his duties and were therefore unlawful, SVT Väst reports.
The Police Authority's human resources board has said the man will be dismissed if he is convicted of more than a few cases of data breach.
