- Prol
- Lumo, the recently launched company, privacy, first AI Chatbot, is the first product that moves
- An amendment to the current Surveillance Law would require that the VPN and messaging applications identify and retain the user data
Proton has confirmed that the company has begun to move from Switzerland due to “legal uncertainty” on the newly proposed Surveillance Law.
The recently launched from Proton, the first privacy of AI Chatbot, Lumo, has become the first product to change from home yet, “investing in Europe does not equal to leave Switzerland,” said a company spokesman to Techrarradar, in the midst of rumors that he is leaving the country forever.
The firm behind one of the best email services of VPN and encryption has been very critical of the amendment proposed by the Swiss government of its surveillance law from the beginning, already sharing plans to stop Switzerland in May.
If it happens, the ordinance on the vigilance of correspondence by and the telecommunications (OSCPT) will introduce new obligations for virtual private networks (VPN), messaging applications and social networks. These measures include the mandatory user identification and data retention of up to six months for all services with at least 5,000 users. Suppliers must also decipher communication at the request of the authorities if they have encryption keys.
Lmo – the first to leave
Proton launched its Chatgpt competitor, Lmo, in July 2025, to give its users an alternative to the great technological solutions that really protect its privacy.
In a blog post on the launch, the chief of anti -abuse security and Proton accounts, Eamonn Maguire, explains that the company has decided to invest outside Switzerland for fear of the imminent legal changes.
He wrote: “Due to the legal uncertainty about the proposals of the Swiss government to introduce mass surveillance, proposals that have been prohibited in the EU, Proton is moving most of its physical infrastructure outside Switzerland. Lumo will be the first product that will move.”
Speaking with a Swiss publication after the launch, the CEO of Proton, Andy Yen, confirmed that the changes proposed to the Swiss Surveillance Law made the company opt for Germany to organize Lumo servers. Proton has also confirmed that he is also developing facilities in Norway.
While the company did not specify that Germany would become the new home of most of its infrastructure, Proton confirmed to Techradar that investing in Europe does not equal Switzerland.
However, it is worth noting that being based on the EU could make protons, and similar companies, vulnerable to broader data retention or scanning obligations if the proposals such as the so -called chat protection or control will be approved.
We approached Proton for clarification on this point, and a company spokesman said that mandatory data retention has already been issued by illegal European courts.
“However, of course, we will continue to monitor the EU closely in the EU, as we do elsewhere,” added Proton.
What follows the privacy industry of Swiss technology?
Proton is not the only supplier who has been a vowel against what critics have considered the “war on online anonymity” of Switzerland.
Another provider of VPN, NYMVPN, confirmed in May its intentions to leave Switzerland if the new surveillance rules are applied.
Speaking with Techradar, the co -founder and director of Operations of NYM, Alexis Roussel, shares the support of Proton’s decision to find a new home for his private chatbot of AI.
He said: “Proton is in a position that is expanding, so it makes a lot of sense. You cannot invest in privacy in Switzerland at this time.”
Roussel also confirmed to Techradar that the company has already developed a strategy to move its VPN activities outside Switzerland and the EU. However, this remains the last resort.
He also explains that the fact that NYM works in a decentralized infrastructure means that it will not be affected by the encryption disposition, since the company does not have any encryption key.
“Depending on how things modify within the law, this will affect our decision to move. But we would like to resist the ordinance until the end and go to the court,” Roussel said.
As reported by Cyberinsider, also the safe and private messaging application session said that “while monitoring the situation,” its decentralized structure means that its services are less vulnerable to changes.
