The proposed update to Switzerland’s Ordinance on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (VÜPF: Verordnung über die Überwachung des Post- und Fernmeldeverkehrs) represents a significant expansion of state surveillance powers, worse than the surveillance powers of the USA. If enacted, it would have serious consequences for encrypted services such as Threema, an encrypted WhatsApp alternative and Proton Mail as well as VPN providers based in Switzerland.

  • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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    7 days ago

    Considering that we might have a World War III or 2nd American Civil War in a decade or two, it would be foolish of Switzerland to not permit encrypted VPN. A stable neutrality is very profitable in a world of uncertainty.

  • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Isnt Switzerland the country that struggled with their covid response because of the direct democracy requirements lacking provisions for such changes…amazing they can figure everything out to hurt the public.

    • grumpusbumpus@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I visited Switzerland just after the vaccines dropped. The Swiss COVID response far surpassed the response in the United States. They rolled out a nation-wide app for vaccination attestation, and any museum, restaurant, etc. could scan a QR code on someone’s phone with a phone. But do they have a scary, socially reactionary subset of their population? Yes.

      In some harmful ways they are fanatically culturally conservative. But they also care about community, sustainability, health, the well-being of children, environmental preservation, organization, and self-reliance. Being a small, rich, homogeneous, topographically-isolated country drives these characteristics.

      Surveillance State developments are depressing but not surprising.

      • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Thanks for the informative comment, a response that outshines the US is literally anything to be fair.

    • c1a5s1c@feddit.org
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      6 days ago

      what covid response? our government simply played on “eigenverantwortung” (personal responsibility). in a country with one of the highest education levels it wasn’t difficult to keep a distance of 2 meters during the peak of the pandemic unless you’re surrounding yourself with naive people. I was able to go swimming in the lake in the summer, and skiing in the winter while Italy, France and Austria had this banned. weird to think about it but I honestly had a pretty fun time during covid and made some of the best friends to date during it. hell, we even had music festivals and our numbers were not horrible. I think you’re thinking of Sweden. happens a lot.

  • Bubbey@lemmy.worldBanned
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    6 days ago

    If I have to fucking switch mail hosts again… what the hell is the point in using proton for privacy and now I’m sure that’s going to get ruined.

    • frosch@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      Wasn’t there an announcement from proton a few days back to possibly move their data Centers out of Switzerland because of this?

      • Bubbey@lemmy.worldBanned
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        6 days ago

        One would hope so, or their fundamental ethics as a company are nonexistent.

      • c1a5s1c@feddit.org
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        6 days ago

        they’ve been threatening this for year to keep suckling at the tit of governmental subsidies to make Switzerland look more attractive for investors with them being here. I doubt they’ll follow through.

    • rozodru@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I self host mine. Honestly I just self host as much as I can to avoid stuff like this because while many European companies are great you just never know. I was with Tuta but decided to self host, same for when I was using Filen for backups. Hell I’m even self hosting my git repos and search engine now.

  • philpo@feddit.org
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    5 days ago

    Switzerland never had solid privacy laws - and is known for intelligence service overreach for decades.

    They had a Stasi like system of “who to imprison” when “the time comes”.

    They listen to all IP traffic in and out the country - which is concerning in times of traffic pattern analysis. And they are known for their close cooperation with US intelligence services.

    Protons (and Threemas) claim of “soo good swiss privacy laws” is nothing more than swiss-washing. And they know it.

    Proton has already given away data of its customers (climate activists) to the swiss authorities. And only talked about it when the press got onto it.

  • katy ✨@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    6 days ago

    switzerland was never a utopia for anybody except corporations, billionaires, and nazis. their “neutrality” was nothing more than an excuse for unregulated capitalism.

  • bigFab@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    “In a democracy, the right way is to argue, not threaten to leave.” Socialist member of parliament said.

    Does this man understand the very first day this law would approve Proton is dead? Do politicians understand privacy at all?

    • underline960@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      6 days ago

      @poutinewharf commented a screenshot of Proton’s post, but the headline was about their AI chatbot, and the news about the Swiss move is buried at the end.

      Because of legal uncertainty around Swiss government proposals(new window) to introduce mass surveillance — proposals that have been outlawed in the EU — Proton is moving most of its physical infrastructure out of Switzerland. Lumo will be the first product to move.

  • SonOfAntenora@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I know this and i know that political systems in Switzerland are really unique. I think this kind of thing can pass despite the robust involvement of the civil society, mostly because it’s an update on a preexisting law. But this is something I can’t tell as of now.

  • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Powers that would make the US blush!? Give me a fucking break. The US spies on all communication in the entire world.

    Proton is a joke and their CEO is an obvious fascist. It was stupid to think a corporation is the answer to privacy anyways. They obey all countries rules and turn over your information the moment they are asked by governments.

    The future of privacy in Switzerland is in the hands of the citizens. Let’s hope they make the right decisions and encourage them to do so.

    If these corporations really cared about privacy they would be promoting laws to make it enshrined in our constitutions. The reality is privacy is just another way to market to the masses who don’t know better.

    My cynical side says these “privacy” focused corporations not wanting privacy to be enshrined in law is because then every business would be privacy minded and their marketing advantage would quickly disappear.

  • callouscomic@lemmy.zip
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    7 days ago

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    Everything goes to shit.

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    Switch to Proton Switch to Proton Switch to Proton Switch to Proton Switch to Proton Switch to Proton

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    Its always the next thing, and the next thing and the next thing. What’s the new proton everyone will annoy the fuck out of us with?

    This is why I stopped giving a shit. Actually. I do give a shit. I will let them surveil all of my shits, and garbage, and vomit.