Switzerland is an excellent country. It’s one of the most developed countries in the world with the highest nominal wealth per adult, the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product, and it ranks highly in government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. That said, while it does have a good quality of living and excellent infrastructure, it hasn’t always been the “role model” for internet privacy and privacy in general.
The reason being that in 1989, there was a major snooping scandal that took place. Citizens were outraged to find out that the government had been massively collecting information on Swiss Citizens. But now, some 28 years later, the Swiss seem to have forgotten the past as spy agencies are looking to take over once again.
New Law Coming September to Enact Nationwide Snooping Powers
This September, a new law is being enacted that increases the Swiss government’s spying powers. Under this new law, the Swiss spy agency the Federal Intelligence Service will be granted capabilities to spy on private communications.
These powers include the ability to monitor emails, internet traffic, tap phones, hack citizen computers, and even install malware or viruses onto cameras, microphones. The snooping powers even include the ability to deploy spy drones to observe questionable activity.
Swiss Votes Approved Snooping Powers?
The new law is called Nachrichtendienstgesetz (NDG). Whereas before snooping activities aforementioned would be illegal, now in the future, they will simply be “investigatory tools”.
This law was approved in 2015 by Swiss parliament, despite the protest of Socialist and Green parties. However, the law was passed because over 66.5 percent of Swiss voters actually approved the law. What gives, right?
Why did the Swiss Approve Snooping?
Well, one reason Swiss voters might have approved the law is because of increasing numbers of extremist attacks in neighboring countries. Since these new powers promise to combat terrorism, espionage and weapon use. Another reason could be that the Swiss people don’t really understand the scope of these new privacy powers.
Limits of Snooping Power?
The government claims that it will only be used to monitor practices for special investigations, and approval from the defense ministry, the cabinet, and the federal court is mandatory.
As a final precaution, the observed individual also has to be notified of surveillance under law. In some ways, these cautionary measures do reveal the known transparency of the Swiss government, but critics still think the scope of the powers is simply too large.
How to Protect Privacy in Switzerland?
So while the government does seem to have “good intentions”, we can’t forget the Swiss past. There have been abuse of powers before, and we’ve seen similar abuse in other countries around the world. Every country wants to “limit terrorism” by observing everyone. We’ve seen this in China where half of the websites are blocked, and in the USA where the government’s “spying tools” got leaked to create huge security issues worldwide. But do these tools really work to combat crime, or are they just extensions of governmental power approved by voters who simply fear extremists?
Whether you trust the Swiss government or not, you should consider your privacy your own privilege and a human right. With TorGuard swiss VPN, you can use our Stealth VPN technology to hide VPN use, encrypt your data from snoopers, hackers, and even internet service providers. Your web browsing is no one’s business but your own.
