Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Swiss voters have given a strong approval to a law on new surveillance powers for the intelligence agencies.
The new law would allow the authorities to tap phones, snoop on email and deploy hidden cameras and bugs.
It would help Switzerland catch up with other countries, supporters say.
Opponents have feared it could erode civil liberties and put Swiss neutrality at risk by requiring closer co-operation with foreign intelligence agencies.
Some 65.5% of voters agreed to accept the proposal. It will allow the Federal Intelligence Service and other agencies to put suspects under electronic surveillance if authorised by a court, the defence ministry and the cabinet.
The big vote in favour of new powers for the intelligence services shows just how concerned the Swiss have become about a possible militant attack.
For decades, ever since a scandal in the 1980s in which Switzerland's government was revealed to have been spying on tens of thousands of its citizens, the Swiss have been sceptical about state surveillance. CCTV cameras are rare; even Google Street View is restricted because of Swiss privacy laws.
But the dreadful events in neighbouring France have changed many Swiss minds. Despite arguments from opponents that increased surveillance would not automatically increase security, voters handed huge new powers to their intelligence services.
The Swiss government says the powers would be used about once a month to monitor the highest-risk suspects.
The new law was not comparable to the spying capabilities of the US or other major powers, which "go well beyond what is desired in terms of individual liberty and security for our citizens", Defence Minister Guy Parmelin said earlier this year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 26 2016, @06:05AM
Buy into yours today. Be it the US or the UK.
Surveillance state is the new fad.
If you don't approve we'll think you're bad!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Marco2G on Monday September 26 2016, @07:05AM
I think I'll stop preaching about human rights at this point. People just don't seem to be wanting them.
I think we should go to a caste system bun one you aren't necessarily born into. I'd rather have one where you can pick your favorite one, prove yourself worthy of it and then remain in it with clearly defined, limited rights and expectations.
Oh yeah, and let's bring coliseums back. Jail inmates can participate in fights and if they win, they get a few years stripped off their sentences. Give back to society, you know? And if some douche nozzle wants to be a dick, instead of playing hooligan at soccer matches, they could just enter a fight and if they survive, they get enough cash for two weeks of moderate living and if they win, it's gonna be enough for two months of luxury.
Let's just be honest with each other and stop acting as if we even wanted personal freedom.
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Monday September 26 2016, @07:28AM
The Swiss People's Party, the same one responsible for this poster of a black sheep getting the boot [bbc.co.uk] have used the popular initiative system there to ban building minarets, and for the deportation of criminal foreigners. That this surveillance popular initiative succeeded is no surprise, with news of Islamist tortures [heatst.com] and the truck attack in Nice, what else could they do short of expelling every Mohammedian?
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday September 26 2016, @01:56PM
The initiative didn't seek to institute surveillance powers. Rather, the parliament had "passed overwhelmingly" a law instituting the new powers; the initiative was started by people who wanted that law repealed.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/intelligence-law_reform-on-intelligence-law-to-go-forward/41940960 [swissinfo.ch]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 26 2016, @07:37AM
Opponents have feared it could erode civil liberties
Could? If your government is tapping phones, snooping on people's emails, and deploying hidden cameras and bugs with virtually no oversight, your civil liberties have already been eroded.
It's a shame that the Swiss have joined countries like the US in being cowards on matters such as this. The people who voted for this are cowardly authoritarians who have no love for freedom, but it's too bad that they pull others down with them. Also, using democratic means to give your government powers that will help it erode democracy isn't exactly a good idea. This is why there needs to be some things the government simply cannot do, even if the majority want it.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday September 26 2016, @08:37AM
> virtually no oversight
It sounds to me as though there's to be oversight:
Supporters also pointed out that three different institutions – the defence minister, the cabinet and the Federal Administrative Court – had to give the green light to open proceedings against a suspect.
-- http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/secret-service/42465282 [swissinfo.ch]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 26 2016, @11:03AM
Much in the same way that the NSA has oversight via the rubberstamping FISA court. Where are the privacy advocates in this equation?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Monday September 26 2016, @07:49AM
This was, unfortunately, inevitable. I had some hope that the initiative (to throw out the surveillance law) would go through, since the Swiss got all upset a few years ago when the government got caught tapping everyone's phone calls. But this is the downside of the terrorism and immigration scare: people want the government to protect them. So the initiative failed, roughly 60% to 40%.
I donated to the pirate party, since they are the only party that really cares about this stuff. But they just can't seem to get any traction here. They also spend far too much time coming up with positions on everything else, to have a "complete" platform. I'd much rather they concentrating on the issues like this, that led to the party existing in the first place.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bradley13 on Monday September 26 2016, @08:23AM
Should anyone outside of Switzerland care about the details, they are a bit confusing.
- The government created a new law giving the surveillance apparatus new powers, such as large-scale internet monitoring, authorization to hack computers, etc..
- This upset enough people that they organized a referendum. After collecting enough (55000) signatures, this puts a proposed piece of legislation on hold, until the public can vote to approve or disapprove it.
- This recent voting was the up/down vote on the law. The vote passed (roughly 60/40), meaning that the law will take effect sometime next year.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 26 2016, @01:19PM
The government did something that the fringe considered an overstep of bounds, they got a referendum going figuring most people agreed with them. Then upon a general vote on the issue found out that in fact they were dead wrong, and 60+ percent of their fellow citizens are the exact kind of people they didn't want to live alongside.
Score another one for the shepherds of globalized sheeple, and a loss for 'human rights' minded 'freedom lovers'.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday September 26 2016, @01:42PM
If there was one country other than the U.S. that was all about personal liberty, it's Switzerland. Or was, anyway.
It will allow the Federal Intelligence Service and other agencies to put suspects under electronic surveillance if authorised by a court, the defence ministry and the cabinet.
Maybe they actually issue warrants for stringent reasons, one can hope.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 26 2016, @04:28PM
LOL, best joke I've heard in a long time.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday September 26 2016, @07:54PM
Well, it was one of the foundational principles of the country. It's not my fault people don't seem to put much stock in them anymore :P
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday September 27 2016, @02:52AM
The founding principles of the USA was that rich white men had personal liberty. Natives, dumb savages without even the right to have treaties honoured. Black people, well they did compromise that they were worth 3/5ths of a person for Congressional districts, other then that they pretty well had zero rights in a good chunk of the country and in practice have always had fewer rights then white people.
Today, it is not uncommon to see Americans claiming that rights only belong to Americans and this is reflected in the number of foreigners that are summarily executed by America.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Bot on Monday September 26 2016, @01:49PM
Total surveillance = complete redefinition of some social/psychological aspects, but no room for misdeeds. You can't steal, kill, cheat anymore. This is the first thing I thought when I pondered about the Internet and my conclusion was: they will never allow this. Given the current attack on privacy meant to make people hate any surveillance I think they are winning.
No surveillance (except of suspects, who has always been subjected to it no matter the tech available) = more misdeeds, no psychological pressure.
Some surveillance = the powerful use it to control everybody else because they have the means to control the controllers. Everybody else SOL, same problems of total surveillance, same problems of no surveillance for the powerful ones' crimes.
Hope Swiss know what they are doing.
Account abandoned.