- Infomaniak is the first provider to openly support a controversial review of the Swiss Surveillance Law
- The amendment would require that VPNs and messaging applications identify and retain user data
- Proton and NYMVPN are ready to get out of Switzerland instead of undermining their privacy and security
A service in the Swiss cloud, Infomaniak, is the first provider to openly support a controversial review in the country’s surveillance law, criticizing Privacy Firm Proton to promote online anonymity.
The amendment would require that all VPN services, messaging applications and social networks identify and retain user data, an obligation that is now limited to mobile networks and internet service providers.
Until now, technology suppliers have expressed their voice in sharing their concerns against this review that, they say, could represent a risk to ensure encryption and anonymity online in Switzerland. According to reports, the ordinance was found with a strong reaction in political banks as well.
The CEO of Proton, one of the best VPN email suppliers and email in the market, even compared these new rules with those in Russia, promising to stop Switzerland if the new ordinance passes. Another Swiss -based supplier, NYMVPN, also confirmed to Techradar that you are ready to do the same.
Why does Infomaniak support the new Swiss surveillance rules?
Infomaniak is a cloud computing company that claims to offer ethical and privacy -centered tools such as web accommodation, cloud storage and now encrypted email services.
Speaking during a debate about RadioTelesise (RTS), the Communication Manager of Infomaniak, Thomas Jacobsen, has been especially critical of Proton’s position, accusing Proton and similar technological privacy firms that advocate online anonymity to “prevent justice from doing its job”, as reported by the Swiss Cublic publication.
Jacobsen also criticized Proton for offering free VPN and email services, arguing that this allows anyone to remain out of reach of the application of the law. According to him, criticism from Proton and similar companies is because the new rules could end their business model.
In fact, the new data retention obligations could lead to the end of the VPN without registration and other services in Switzerland, such as Proton VPN, Proton Mail, NYMVPN and Threema.
Jacobsen also pointed out that “the problem is not so much encrypted, but anonymity.”
Contrary to similar legislative efforts in Europe that promote the idea of a rear door of legal encryption to citizens’ communications, Switzerland has adopted, in fact, a different approach and, on the other hand, is directed to the monitoring of metadata.
Metadata include all the details that are not the content, such as IP addresses, location data, time brands, data package size, telephone numbers, who has spoken with and when. As Jacobsen expressed him during another interview with RTS, “the exterior of the package is enough to bring justice.”
However, technologists have argued for a long time that metadata can raise significant privacy concerns due to their ability to reveal the confidential information of users. With the advances in data analysis with AI, protecting the privacy of metadata has become crucial throughout the industry, which leads to the creation of tools such as NYMVPN and Daita de Mullvad to protect against these threats.
We approach Infomaniak to get more clarifications, but we are still waiting for an answer at the time of publication.
How did the Swiss privacy industry react?
The co -founder and Operations Director of NYM, Alexis Roussel, was one of the commentators online challenging the company’s opinion on the matter, especially with respect to the metadata collection.
Speaking with Techradar, Roussel said: “They affirm that the privacy definition is encrypting the message and that the metadata are not important, but that is outdated. Molcan to the entire community here.”
Roussel also challenged the idea of getting rid of online anonymity to facilitate the work of the application of the law, arguing that enforcing preventive surveillance measures could undermine democratic values in Switzerland.
He said: “Online anonymity is in the center of the balance of power in a democracy. When the government has access to all its metadata, that is completely invested.”
According to the current system, Roussel explains, the government needs to do specific investigation to force online services to register all its data. However, if the new ordinance is approved, this data collection will be mandatory and preventive to any potential illegal activity.
“An obligation to store the data in the case, perhaps, one day a judge will ask for it, that is not right,” Roussel said. “It is a war against anonymity, which is happening in Switzerland at the federal level.”
In Switzerland, the new version of the Surveillance Law aims to make Proton, Threema and@nymproject operate from Switzerland. We are in the consultation phase. Let’s fight. https://t.co/bcmbxzipfcMarch 25, 2025
As public consultations ended on May 6, 2025, we will now have to wait and see what the Swiss government decides.
However, Roussel confirmed to Techradar that there has been a significant thrust of political parties and Swiss companies equally.
Some cantons, including Geneva, have even requested the right to digital integrity as an argument against these rules. Roussel was the main creator of the initiative that introduced this new right to protect the privacy and online data of citizens, in Geneva in 2023 and Neuchâtel in 2024, with more than 90% consensus.
“The chances of the ordinance being annulled in Parliament or even in court are quite high, but they can still press for it,” Roussel told Techradar.
However, “that is already a big problem because it creates a badly precedent. No one will invest in privacy at this time in Switzerland,” he added.
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