Data protection chief warns of customer and criminal surveillance
Hanspeter Thür is Switzerland's Data Protection and Information Commissioner
Keystone
Switzerland’s head of data and information protection has highlighted the dangers of technology that allows businesses to track customers’ habits, warning such practices may soon come to Switzerland and that data collection and analysis en masse represents a “massive threat to privacy”.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In his yearly report to the government, Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner Hanspeter Thür said people-tracking technology that records and stores consumer habits for business use is not currently in use in Switzerland, but he said certain companies had shown interest in using it.
Thür also sees a danger in so-called “big data”, which involves the systematic analysis of massive amounts of information. He finds it especially problematic that big data only shows the probabilities of patterns and could lead people to derive inadequate evidence or causalities from it.
On Monday, Thür called for a revision of Swiss data protection law that would take into account the use of big data. He has recommended that a group of experts analyse the situation and present solutions.
The data protection commissioner also looked at last year’s revelations of online spying by the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) and supported the fact that they had launched a discussion on the barriers of state surveillance.
However, he criticised a bill currently before Swiss parliament concerning more sophisticated means of monitoring the online activity of possible criminals, stating he found it problematic that intelligence services could manipulate IT systems and networks.
Most Read Swiss Abroad
More
Why Switzerland is an archaeological treasure trove
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Great St. Bernard pass between Switzerland and Italy closed due to avalanche
This content was published on
An avalanche forced the closure of the Great St. Bernard pass between Switzerland and Italy on Thursday. The route remains closed to Easter traffic.
‘Pressure will increase on Switzerland to invest more in defence’
This content was published on
Markus Mäder, Switzerland's state secretary for security policy, believes that more cooperation is needed in order to strengthen defence in Europe.
Just one in five Swiss attend a religious service at Easter
This content was published on
Only one in five people in Switzerland attend a religious service during the Easter period or give up meat or alcohol for at least one day of fasting. Around 25% of those polled see Easter primarily as a family holiday, according to the survey.
Major road disruptions continue after heavy snowfall in parts of Switzerland
This content was published on
The snowfall has ended in the southern Swiss canton of Valais, the cantonal emergency services said on Friday. Several roads, however, remain closed.
Swiss businessman gets prison term for asbestos deaths
This content was published on
Stephan Schmidheiny has been sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison by the Turin Court of Appeal in a case against the former Eternit executive over deaths linked to asbestos exposure in Italy.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.