Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers 

Changes to the Asylum Act and associated regulations are expected to come into force on April 1, 2025. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

From April 2025, the Swiss government should be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.

Work is still required to develop an IT solution for such a step, to adapt processes at the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and to recruit and train staff, the government said on Wednesday. The changes to the Asylum Act as well as associated regulations are expected to come into force on April 1, 2025.  

According to information previously provided by the government, the new tasks such as scanning data carriers, temporarily storing data and evaluating it will be done by employees in the six federal asylum centres. It is assumed that this will require additional staff – six additional full-time positions and a further six part-time. 

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Five analyses per day  

On average, almost three-quarters of asylum seekers in recent years have not provided any identification documents. For around half of them, the government assumes that various data carriers could be analysed in the future, as stated in the report on the corresponding legal amendment.  

Based on the long-term average of 20,000 asylum applications per year, it can therefore be assumed that an average of five evaluations will be carried out per asylum centre per working day. The current number of asylum applications is significantly higher.  

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Proportionality under scrutiny  

In the medium and long term, however, the government expects the new evaluation options to save costs. It also said the early availability of additional information on identity, nationality or travel route could speed up some asylum procedures.

Asylum seekers should only have to hand over their electronic data carriers if their identity, nationality or travel route cannot be established on the basis of identity documents or in any other way. According to the rules, SEM must first carry out a proportionality check for each individual case. The law does not provide for the compulsory handing over of a data carrier. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kp 

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