- The Swiss government will reconsider its amendment to the surveillance law
- This follows a reaction from the tech industry and Swiss politicians.
- Plan to expand surveillance requirements still remains
The Swiss government has been forced to reverse controversial decisions that would have significantly expanded surveillance in the country.
The issue first made headlines in March following reports that the government was considering a legislative change that experts warned would put secure encryption and online anonymity at risk. However, after a strong backlash, the government has now decided to go back to the drawing board.
The proposal sought to expand surveillance obligations currently reserved for telecommunications networks and Internet service providers (ISPs) to target so-called “derivative service providers.” This would have included messaging apps, social media platforms, and virtual private networks (VPNs).
However, lawmakers faced resistance from Switzerland’s privacy technology sector, which refused to compromise user security. Proton, the provider behind one of the best VPN apps on the market, joined forces with NymVPN and secure messaging app Threema to fight the proposal, garnering significant support from across the political spectrum.
The revocation was formalized on December 10 when the Swiss Federal Parliament accepted the motion presented by Council of States member Johanna Gapany, effectively rendering the legislative change null and void.
While it’s a welcome development, NymVPN COO Alexis Roussel cautions that the battle is not over. “There is a little change happening, which is promising. But still, there is no change in the federal government’s willingness to impose surveillance,” Roussel told TechRadar.
The paradox of surveillance
Despite the positive outcome, the parliamentary debate highlighted a fundamental disconnect between the government and technology experts regarding the definition of mass surveillance.
“There is a fundamental failure in surveillance,” Roussel told TechRadar. “For us, surveillance starts as soon as we collect the data. For them, only when they access the data are they doing surveillance. So collecting the data is not a problem.”
This sentiment is echoed by comments made by Proton CEO Andy Yen to Swiss newspaper Le Temps following the decision. “I still sense a significant misunderstanding about the issues at stake in this draft ordinance,” Yen said. “The authorities say that this is in no way mass surveillance. But when the authorities require companies like ours to collect colossal amounts of information about their users, what is it called?”
This philosophical disagreement prevents the Swiss tech sector from having full confidence that lawmakers truly understand why the original proposal was so problematic.
However, the vote represents a major political defeat for the government. And any future compromise will need to find common ground to win over politicians who opposed the initial plan.
What’s next?
When the Swiss Federal Parliament accepted the motion to review the surveillance amendment, it confirmed that it will first commission an independent impact analysis.
These findings will influence the shape of the new proposal. Once a new version is drafted, the public consultation process will begin.
“This will be a delay of at least two years, which is good,” Roussel said.
What is certain, however, is that the Swiss technology industry seems to emerge stronger from this battle and is not willing to give up.
As Andy Yen wrote in a post: “We remain prepared to take all necessary steps to protect privacy, including leaving Switzerland if necessary, although we hope it doesn’t come to that.”
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