Switzerland: Federal Council opened consultation on amended Ordinance on surveillance of postal and telecommunications correspondence including government access to data requirement

On 29 January 2025, the Swiss Federal Council opened a consultation on the amended ordinance concerning the surveillance of postal and telecommunications correspondence, running until 6 May 2025. The amendment proposes measures to update information provision, network surveillance, and oversight of infrastructure providers in the internet and telecommunications sector. It sets out new obligations and classifications for telecommunications service providers (TSPs) and derived communications service providers (DSSs). TSPs with full obligations are defined as those generating at least CHF 100 million in revenue or serving 1 million users, while DSSs are categorised into three groups according to their obligations. The ordinance also specifies new requirements for information disclosure, including user identification across internet connections and details on the last access to email or telecommunications services. It introduces additional monitoring types for real-time peripheral data and retrospective user identification. A provision requires providers with reduced or full obligations to remove encryption, although end-to-end encryption in messenger services remains exempt.