Switzerland could shift into a surveillance society
The rise of mass surveillance across the world doesn't spare Switzerland. A project submitted for consultation by the Federal Council could weaken the protection of personal data.
Based in Geneva, the company Proton is renowned worldwide for respecting the privacy of the 100 million people using its email or cloud storage services. However, this data confidentiality is under threat in Switzerland, its CEO Andy Yen warns.
A public consultation opened from January to May by the Federal Council is causing his worries. It concerned a partial revision of two ordinances related to the surveillance of communications in order to include, among others, clear definitions of the different categories of companies obliged to collaborate with the government for intelligence and surveillance purposes.
The revision also specifies the legal obligation of telecommunication services providers to delete the encryption they applied to the data, with the exception of end-to-end encryption, an advanced protection system used in the messaging applications Threema, Signal or WhatsApp, for example.
A massive extension of surveillance
The Federal Council asserts that the main purpose of the revision is to provide clarifications but the project looks like a massive extension of digital communications surveillance, according to Grégoire Barbey of the Swiss newspaper Le Temps. As the project currently stands, hundreds of companies would be obliged to store more data and to know the identity of every user, the journalist summarizes.
Under these new rules, the companies would have to record the IP addresses, email recipients and locations of their users in real time. They would also be required to share them continuously with the service of postal and telecommunication surveillance in a systematic way, and not only in the case of a request from the intelligence service of the government or judicial authorities, Tribune de Genève emphasizes.
Watch (in French): Surveillance des communications: fronde contre le projet du Conseil fédéral (RTS)
“The transmission of metadata that is considered has such a reach that it will be imposed on practically any online service or app with only 5000 users - even though it has been deemed illegal in Europe,” Andy Yen deplores.
Many negative reactions
The consultation proposed by the Federal Council raised many criticisms. Proton, whose business model is based on the protection of personal data, threatens to leave the country if the revision is adopted in its current form. The opinion of his CEO is clear: “The proposition of federal counselor Beat Jans [who leads the Department of justice and police] is extreme: it aims to impose in Switzerland a mass surveillance which is deemed illegal not only in the European Union, but also in the United States. That would force the Swiss companies to spy on their users on behalf of the State.”
Watch (in French): Interview d'Andy Yen, fondateur du service de courriel Proton (RTS) et Fact checking des arguments sur la révision de l’ordonnance sur la surveillance (RTS)
The Swiss company Threema, which runs an encrypted messaging application, says that it is “out of the question” that it would collect and store additional data on its users. If the revision is adopted, Threema says it is ready to launch a public initiative so that the population can voice their opinion on the consequences of these ordinance amendments.
The cantons of Vaud and Geneva have also expressed reservations. In its response to the consultation, the Vaud government says it fears “the implementation of a system that looks like mass surveillance in Switzerland.” As for the Geneva State Council, it points out that the canton’s population has enshrined the right to digital integrity in its Constitution and emphasizes that certain dispositions in the telecommunication surveillance law could come into conflict with this fundamental right.
Criticisms from the parties
Political parties also denounced certain aspects of the ordinances’ revision. The Liberals (FDP) consider that the proposed provisions “would infringe on the right to privacy and other fundamental rights of the users.”
According to the Green Party, this project will impose stricter obligations on most businesses, particularly regarding data retention. Such changes should be made at the level of the law and not through the amendment of an ordinance, the ecological party asserts.
The Swiss People's Party (UDC) deems the project “disproportionate” due to the unjustified infringement it would impose on economic freedom. As for the Social Democratic Party (SP), it believes such measures would reduce the country's capacity for innovation.
Other oppositions
Swico, an umbrella organization for technology companies with over 750 members employing nearly 56,000 people, also opposes the Federal Council's project in a 15-page document. It argues that the revision of the ordinances goes far beyond the law by significantly expanding the obligations of the vast majority of derived communication service providers.
The Digital society, an association for the protection of citizens and consumers in the digital age, asserts that the Federal Council would establish a mass surveillance State if it would adopt this revision. It launched a national petition on May 20th titled “Democracy instead of a surveillance State!”. The version in German has over 12,000 signatures to date.
As for the French-speaking Swiss Consumer Federation, it emphasized the cybersecurity risks this project would cause due to the conservation of large amounts of data that would be imposed to the companies concerned. This data could indeed be the target of cyberattacks.
An uncertain outcome
The data confidentiality of Proton’s users had already been challenged by the communications surveillance agency of the federal police. “Their first offensive took place in 2021, when they already wanted to impose on us the regime that applies to telecom giants Swisscom or Sunrise, in order to force us into mandatory retention of users’ data,” explains Andy Yen.
If it is implemented, the revision of the two ordinances would compel the Geneva-based company to do so, just like other similar service providers. The Federal Council will decide which direction to take regarding this digital surveillance once it has completed the review of the responses gathered during the consultation.
- Arnaud Mittempergher
