Since 2021, Finland’s Ministry of Defence has adopted a more secretive approach to arms exports, no longer disclosing full details of defense equipment licenses.
The change stems from heightened global security risks and evolving defense strategies, according to an investigation by Finnish broadcaster Yle.
The Ministry explained that the decision to encrypt export data was made at the request of either the seller or the recipient. Yle revealed that one such request came from the state of Israel.
Officials argue that the move is necessary due to “changes in the global security landscape and the growing quality of Finnish defense equipment.” The encrypted licenses now hide the identities of exporters, end users, and details about the military goods involved. This means the public can no longer track what weapons are being sold, or to whom — a significant departure from previous transparency standards, under which such licenses were made publicly available.
The practice began under the administration of Prime Minister Sanna Marin. The first encrypted arms export license was issued to Israel in June 2021.
According to Yle, the company behind the export request was Sensofusion, a Vantaa-based firm known for its counter-drone technologies. Sensofusion “declined to comment on the matter to Yle.”
The Ministry’s decision is legally grounded in Sections 2 and 20 of Chapter 24 of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
Section 2 states that confidentiality is required when “disclosing the information could harm or damage Finland’s international relations or its conditions for participating in international cooperation.”
Section 20 provides for confidentiality when documents “contain information that is a private business secret” or “if disclosure would cause economic harm to a business operator and the information is not related to the protection of consumer health, the environment, or the rights of those affected by the activity.”
