2026. Erik Schönenberger approves of digital projects going to a vote in Switzerland. Fundamentally, it is parliament’s job to meet the needs of the people. But a popular vote triggers important debates and carries more weight: “It has another impact when the people can decide.” Geneva is the first canton to introduce regulation Voters in the canton of Geneva have already come out strongly in favour of “constitutional protection in the digital space”. The proposal won 94 per cent of the vote. Digital integrity has also come up in the Federal Palace, with Samuel Bendahan backing national regulation. The aim is to uphold basic rights in the digital sphere, stressed the SP national councillor from the canton of Vaud. It is often unclear how artificial intelligence works and handles sensitive data. It enables new forms of control, monitoring and influence. “People need protection against the different applications of the new technologies.” The federal parliament turned down Bendahan’s motion, but it is still working towards digital integrity. The aim is to enshrine digital integrity in law sooner rather than later. Monica Amgwerd hopes the Zurich initiative will make its presence felt beyond the canton: “We want the people to engage with the issue and recognise its significance.” In addition, companies, authorities and organisations have to rethink their digitisation strategies, she says. Ultimately, solutions are needed at a national level, “in order to progress digitally in a way that benefits the people first and foremost”. monitored and analysed without their consent. They must not be evaluated by machines and they must be able to count on their online activity being forgotten at some point. Balancing the pros and cons It may initially seem surprising that the call for the right to live offline comes from a party with many IT experts in its ranks and that is seen as having a close affinity with technology. “We want people-centric digitisation, which is why we base our approach on fundamental rights – not trends or hype,” says Amgwerd: “It’s in our DNA.” The aim is not to stop digitisation, but it must follow democratic principles. It must serve the people and not individual companies. It takes rules to do that. “We aren’t applying the brakes,” stresses the party general secretary. “We are intervening to raise awareness of human rights.” Upholding these rights while making digital progress is not impossible, confirms Erik Schönenberger, executive director of the Digital Society. “You can use and protect data – the two are not mutually exclusive.” The idea is to consider all population groups when planning digital projects. As a positive example, Schönenberger recalls how a new concept for an electronic identity was created after the people rejected the original proposal in 2021. The responsible federal office conducted a participatory process to define the new concept. “All perspectives were taken into consideration, so individual actors would not profit financially or assume too much influence.” If everything goes to plan, the E-ID will be introduced in A delegation from Zurich’s Pirate Party submits their initiative, which calls for the right to live offline to be enshrined in the constitution. Photo: Keystone “We want the people to engage with the issue and recognise its significance.” Monica Amgwerd, General Secretary of the Zurich Pirate Party Swiss Review / December 2024 / No.6 27
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYwNzMx