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A first step in Europe  Proton slams Switzerland's new surveillance bill at
the United Nations Forum

Date:
Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:17:30 +0000

Description:
An amendment to the Swiss surveillance law could soon force VPNs and 
messaging apps to identify and retain user data.

FULL STORY

Privacy firm Proton hasn't shied away from its opposition to a controversial
amendment to Switzerland's surveillance law  and Proton Mail 's Head of Legal
has reiterated this during the War, Peace and Neutrality forum hosted at the
United Nations in Geneva on October 10. 

Swiss lawmakers want to expand data retention obligations in the country.
These are currently limited to mobile networks and internet service providers
(ISPs), but would be expanded to all internet service providers with at least
5,000 users, including virtual private networks (VPNs) , messaging apps, and
social networks. 

The measures would force these services to identify their users and collect a
large amount of their data, with the details being stored for up to six
months. Providers will also be required to decrypt the communication upon the
authorities' request should they own encryption keys. 

By introducing such an "indiscriminate data retention model," Marc Loebekken,
Head of Legal at Proton Mail, said "Switzerland is taking a first step in
Europe." 

"This is something quite unprecedented, which we strongly believe would lead
to a severe difficulty for Swiss businesses to compete, especially in the
sector of digital trust, where it is fundamental to give customers power over
the data," adds Loebekken. 

Proton, the firm behind the highly popular Proton VPN , is not alone in
feeling this way. As Loebekken pointed out, almost everybody who expressed an
opinion on the matter is against, fueling a debate around what critics have
deemed as " a war against online anonymity ." These include other Swiss
privacy providers, such as NymVPN , Threema , and Session .

"No choice but to leave"

Proton Mail first entered the market in 2014, offering a privacy-first and
secure alternative to Big Tech services like Google's Gmail or Microsoft's
Outlook. 

Over 10 years later, much has changed. Proton now also offers one of the best
VPNs on the market, a reliable password manager , and encrypted cloud storage
and calendar apps. The company has also entered the world of AI chatbots
recently, unveiling its own private iteration, Lumo . 

All Proton's services operate under a strict no-log privacy policy, meaning
that the company should never collect details that can identify users. This
model can therefore not survive a requirement to de-anonymize users and store
their names, email addresses, IP address logs, and other personal data. 

Hence, Loebekken has reiterated Proton CEO Andy Yen's previous claim when he
said that this law would make Proton less confidential than Google : the
company has "no choice but to leave" if the amendment passes. 

Proton has already begun to cut some ties with Switzerland over "legal
uncertainty ." Lumo is the first product to change home, with Germany
currently hosting its servers. 

The company has also confirmed it's developing facilities in Norway, while
investing over 100 million to build a "sovereign European stack" for its
services, ensuring it "cant be held hostage by Switzerland" if the laws 
change for the worse. 

Proton's goal is clear  users' privacy cannot be compromised. "Whatever
problem we have today with the reliance on those [Big Tech] providers is not
solved by regulation. Its solved by having our own emerging companies
competing to get viable alternatives," said Loebekken. Beyond Switzerland 

The threats against online anonymity and private, secure communications do 
not come only from Switzerland, though. 

A push to create an encryption backdoor is also spreading across Europe,
especially with the fierce debate surrounding the EU Chat Control proposal 
and client-side scanning technology. 

"These frameworks that are being pushed are not helpful," said Loebekken. 

Despite coming from noble intentions, Loebekken argues that weakening
encryption under the guise of security is a dangerous trade-off that
ultimately harms everyones security, as it cannot work from a technological
perspective. 

"They simply are not solutions and will create more problems," he added. "I'm
not saying there shouldnt be anything done about crimes on the platform, but
it should be done in a targeted way."

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/a-first-step-in-europe-prot
on-slams-switzerlands-new-surveillance-bill-at-the-united-nations-forum

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