online surveillance Swiss Vote to Give Their Government More Spying Powers

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Swiss Vote to Give Their Government More Spying Powers

 

 

 

Swiss approve new surveillance law with 66.5% majority

 

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Yesterday, on Sunday, Swiss voters decided with a 66.5 percent majority to give their own government more spying powers over their daily lives.

 

Last year, the country's parliament passed a law that allowed its secret service, FIS (Federal Intelligence Service), more powers to snoop on emails, tap phones, or use hidden cameras and microphones.

 

Such technologies and investigative procedures are common practice in other countries, but they have been outlawed by the strict Swiss government.

 

New surveillance law passed in 2015, implementation delayed

 

The law, which the government argued it was needed after the devastating Paris ISIS attacks, was contested by privacy groups and the Swiss leftist political parties, which delayed its implementation and forced it into a country-wide referendum that took place this Sunday.

 

The Swiss population made their voice heard over the weekend and concerned with the ever-increasing threat from terrorist groups have voted to sacrifice some of their privacy for the sake of security.

 

Switzerland, next to Germany and the northern Scandinavian countries, has some of the strictest privacy laws in Europe. So much so that it took Google years to get permission to map out the country via its Street View service.

 

Swiss secret service will need special authorization on a per-case basis

 

FIS, who handles both internal and external cyber-espionage operations, will need special authorization from a court, the defense ministry, and the cabinet if they are to launch internal surveillance operations.

 

According to SwissInfo, opponents of this law struggled in winning the older generation on their side, who mostly voted for the new surveillance laws.

 

The publication also noted the little attention the campaign got in the media, with most of the attention focusing on another topic included in the three-vote referendum, related to a 10 percent boost to the country's old age pension fund.

 

The population voted against an increase of the pension fund just because it would add an extra strain on the state's budget. The third issue was related to Switzerland increasing its green economy, which citizens also voted down.

 

Source

[CODYQX4]

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