No burner phones for Swiss diplomats on US visits

Switzerland will take no extra measures against unwanted scrutiny in the US Keystone

Switzerland has no plans to increase digital security of diplomats visiting the United States, despite the European Union issuing burner phones to protect from snooping.

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The trade war unleashed by US President Donald Trump is permanently damaging the trust of its Western partners. The EU Commission has announced that it will adjust its security recommendations for EU personnel traveling to the US.

+ Trump tariff shock: how Switzerland is positioning itself

According to the Financial Times newspaper, based on discussions with several EU diplomats, similar data protection rules now apply to travel to the US as to travel to China or Ukraine.

Disposable cell phones, so-called burner phones, which do not contain any sensitive information, are also being used. This is intended to prevent the US from gaining access to confidential information from the EU Commission.

In response to the FT article, the Commission states that such instructions were not given in writing.

Trust breakdown

The move shows how great the mistrust has become between the US and formerly close political partners.

And there’s a second reason. Until now, international trade in goods was based on a rules-based system. Now, much depends on direct talks and dealmaking with Trump.

Following the tariffs imposed, many nations suddenly find themselves with a lot of money at stake. Even small concessions in the current talks with the US administration could have major financial consequences.

Any attacks on the traveling delegations’ devices provide insights into the other party’s negotiation strategies and red lines. An information advantage could thus literally translate into a better negotiation outcome.

Tariff shock

Swiss diplomacy has also significantly increased its activities in the US after Trump initially introduced tariffs of 31% on goods from Switzerland before temporarily reducing them to 10%.

Helene Budliger, the State Secretary for Economic Affairs, has visited the US several times since Trump took office. And starting April 22, two Federal Councillors, Karin Keller-Sutter and Guy Parmelin, will be in the US for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. All with the goal of improving Switzerland’s position in Washington.

However, the rules will not change for federal employees and members of the Federal Council. Regarding the requirements for the protection of confidential information, “no substantive adjustments are planned for the time being,” according to the Federal Chancellery.

The rules for using encrypted communication remain in place. Chats classified as confidential, for example, must be deleted before traveling to the US, and the phone must be secured with a PIN code.

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has also not adjusted its requirements for travel to the US, as discussions with FDFA employees show. “Officially,” the Federal Chancellery states, “there is no differentiation of the requirements by country.” That would only create room for diplomatic tensions. Switzerland therefore does not want to risk a confrontation with the US under any circumstances.

Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. An editor then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

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