Swiss Review 1/2021

Swiss Review / February 2021 / No.1 19 ernment-driven solutions are less ef- fective and successful, because the private sector chooses not to use them.” This form of cooperation is not without its critics. It is the reasonwhy Digital Society Switzerland, the cam- paign group Campax, the signa- ture-gathering platform WeCollect, and civil society organisation Pub- licBeta have forced a referendum. They say that the government is fail- ing in one of its key responsibilities and “bowing to the interests of the pri- vate sector”. Big banks, insurers, and firmswith government linkswould be “acting like a passport office”. The ini- tiators of the referendumbelieve that granting the private sector access to sensitive data is risky. In their opinion, companies primarily look out for their own interests and cannot be trusted. The government would have relatively little power to control them. Oppo- nents of the new legislation also have doubts as to how voluntary the scheme would be. They fear that on- line services could pressure people into using e-ID. The SP and the Greens have already represented this view in parliament. It is a viewwhich is shared by the Pirate Party, Switzerland’s pub- lic-sector trade union VPOD/SSP, sen- ior citizens’ organisations, and other bodies. Switzerland’s top data-protection official supports the E-ID Act Supporters of the new legislation dis- miss these security concerns, insist- ing that the government will not lose control of the people’s data. They say that the E-ID Act goes above and be- yond current provisions. For example, personal information cannot be used for other purposes or forwardedwith- out prior consent. Selling such infor- mation would be against the law. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Adrian Lobsiger, believes that the E-IDAct of- fers benefits with regard to data pro- tection compliance. He explains that the E-ID Act would make things sim- pler, because banks, companies and authorities would no longer have to develop their own secure login sys- tems. “It would lead to uniform statu- tory standards being applied to tech- nical security and data protection,” he says. Lobsiger says that the good thing about what is being proposed is that the private sector would be funding and operating the e-ID scheme but the government would be setting the rules. If voters rejected it, Switzerland might have no other option but to rec- ognise e-IDs offered exclusively by the private sector – also including provid- ers unable to ensure the same type of data protection, e.g. Apple andGoogle. Lobsigermentions that some cantonal authorities are already collaborating with SwissSign. These authorities use the company’s SwissID digital key to provide access to online government services. Monopoly? SwissSign Group is part of a joint ven- ture involving Swiss Post, SBB, Swiss- com, Six and a number ofmajor banks and insurance companies. It would be keen on issuing its own e-ID – but sceptics such as Anita Fetz (SP/Ba- sel-Stadt) are critical. In a parliamen- tary debate, the formermember of the Council of States said that a private monopoly is the last thing that Swit- zerland needs. Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter dismissed these com- ments as “illogical”. “If that is a mo- How much money would E-ID cost the government? Implementing e-ID would involve a one-off outlay of 7.9 million francs. This money would fund development of the system as well as the establishment of a federal service in charge of transmitting identity and verification informa- tion. According to the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), operating the system is likely to cost around 3.5 million francs a year. However, this would be covered by administrative fees and would therefore have no effect on the govern- ment’s balance sheet. (ERU) nopoly, what would you call the gov- ernment?” A number of providers from the private sector competing to develop their own applications is ex- actly what we want, she said. E-ID is a cornerstone of the digital transformation, say supporters of the E-IDAct. Switzerland cannot afford to miss the digital boat and not make up ground on other countries. Switzer- land is indeed lagging behind compa- rable countries in e-government. It risks falling even further behind, warn experts. This is Switzerland’s very last chance to keep control of its citizens’ identification data, declared Ruedi Noser (FDP/Zurich) in the smaller chamber, adding that any de- laywould play into the hands of Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. On 10 July 2020, the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA), referred to as the “Parliament of the Fifth Switzerland”, decided to back the new legislation and vote yes in the referendum. However, with 37 to 26 in favour (and 18 abstentions), the decision was far from unanimous. EVEL INE RUTZ IS A FREEL ANCE JOURNAL IST BASED IN WINTERTHUR. SHE MAINLY WRI TES ABOUT POL I T ICAL, SOCIAL AND SCIENT I F IC ISSUES. Data protection expert Adrian Lobsiger: E-ID would comply with data protection requirements. Minister of Justice Karin Keller Sutter: exclusively government- driven solutions are less effective. Critic Anita Fetz: a private monopoly is the last thing that Switzerland needs.