- Swiss government to reconsider amendment to surveillance law
- This comes after a backlash from the Swiss tech industry and politicians.
- Plan to Expand Supervision Requirements Still in Place
The Swiss government was forced to reverse a controversial decision that could have significantly expanded surveillance in the country.
The issue first hit the headlines in March following reports that the government was considering changes to legislation that experts warned would lead to changes to the law. compromise strong encryption and anonymity on the Internet. However, after a strong backlash, the government decided to go back to the drawing board.
The proposal seeks to expand the supervisory obligations currently reserved for telecommunications networks and internet service providers (ISPs) and targets so-called “derivative service providers.” This would include messaging apps, social media platforms and virtual private networks (VPN).
However, lawmakers faced resistance from Switzerland's privacy technology sector, which refused to compromise on user security. Proton, supplier of one of best VPN applications on the market, have joined forces with NimVPN and secure messaging app Trima fight the proposal with significant support across the political spectrum.
The repeal was formalized on December 10, when the Swiss Federal Parliament accepted the offer introduced by Council of State Member Joanna Gapani, effectively ending the legislative changes.
This is a positive development, but NymVPN COO Alexis Roussel warns that the battle is not over yet. “There's a slight shift happening and that's promising. But still, the federal government's willingness to implement surveillance has not changed,” Roussel told TechRadar.
The Surveillance Paradox
Despite the positive outcome, the parliamentary debate exposed a fundamental gap between the government and tech experts over the definition of mass surveillance.
“There is a fundamental misconception about surveillance,” Roussel told TechRadar. “For us, surveillance begins as soon as we collect data. For them, surveillance occurs only when data is accessed. Therefore, data collection is not a problem.”
This sentiment echoes comments made by Proton CEO Andy Yen to a Swiss newspaper. Time after the decision. “I continue to perceive significant misunderstanding of the issues at stake in this draft regulation,” Yen said. “The authorities say this is by no means a matter of mass surveillance. But when the government requires companies like ours to collect colossal amounts of information about their users, what do you call it?”
This philosophical discrepancy prevents the Swiss tech sector from having full confidence that legislators truly understand why the original proposal was so problematic.
However, the vote represents a significant political defeat for the government. And any future compromise will have to find common ground to win over politicians who opposed the original plan.
What's next?
In accepting the proposal to review the oversight amendment, the Swiss Federal Parliament confirmed that it would first carry out an independent impact analysis.
These findings will influence the shape of the new proposal. Once the new version is developed, a public consultation process will begin.
“This will lead to at least a two-year delay, which is good,” Roussel said.
What is certain, however, is that the Swiss tech industry appears to be growing stronger in this battle – and it is not willing to give up.
Like Andy Yen wrote in the post: “We remain prepared to take all necessary measures to protect privacy, including leaving Switzerland if necessary, although we hope it will not come to that.”
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