- Swiss government to reconsider amendment to surveillance law
- This follows backlash from the tech industry and Swiss politicians.
- The plan to expand surveillance requirements still remains on the table.
The Swiss government has been forced to reverse a controversial decision that would have significantly expanded surveillance in the country.
The issue first hit the headlines in March following reports that the government was considering a legislative change that experts said would endanger secure encryption and anonymity online. However, following strong backlash, the government decided to go back to the drawing board.
The proposal sought to extend monitoring obligations currently reserved for telecommunications networks and Internet service providers (ISPs) to target “derivative service providers.” This would have included messaging apps, social media platforms and virtual private networks (VPNs).
However, lawmakers faced resistance from the Swiss privacy technology sector, which refused to compromise on user security. Proton, the provider behind one of the best VPN apps on the market, teamed up with NymVPN and secure messaging app Threema to fight the proposal, gaining significant support from across the political spectrum.
The turnaround was made official on December 10 when the Swiss Federal Parliament accepted the motion presented by Johanna Gapany, member of the Council of States, thus rendering the legislative change obsolete.
While this is a welcome development, NymVPN COO Alexis Roussel cautions that the battle is not over. “There is a small change that is promising. But there is still no change in the federal government’s willingness to impose surveillance,” Roussel told TechRadar.
The surveillance paradox
Despite the positive outcome, the parliamentary debate exposed a fundamental disconnect between the government and technology experts over the definition of mass surveillance.
“There is a fundamental misconception when it comes to surveillance,” Roussel told TechRadar. “For us, monitoring begins as soon as we collect the data. For them, it is only when the data is accessed that they monitor. So data collection is not a problem.”
The sentiment echoes comments made by Proton CEO Andy Yen to Swiss newspaper Le Temps following the decision. “I still perceive a significant misunderstanding of the issues in this proposed ordinance,” Yen said. “The authorities say this is in no way mass surveillance. But when the authorities force companies like ours to collect colossal amounts of information about their users, what do you call that?”
This philosophical divergence prevents the Swiss tech sector from having full confidence that lawmakers truly understand why the initial proposal was so problematic.
This vote nevertheless represents a significant political defeat for the government. And any future compromise will need to find common ground to convince politicians opposed to the original plan.
What’s next?
After accepting the proposal to revise the surveillance amendment, the Swiss Federal Parliament confirmed that it would first commission an independent impact assessment.
These results will influence the form of the new proposal. Once the new version has been drafted, the public consultation process will begin.
“It’s going to add at least two years of delay, which is a good thing,” Roussel said.
What is certain is that the Swiss technology industry seems to emerge stronger from this battle – and it is not ready to give up.
As Andy Yen wrote in an article: “We remain prepared to take all necessary measures to protect privacy, including leaving Switzerland if necessary, although we hope it does not come to that.”
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