[ISOC-CH Ann] Referendum against the LRens/NDG

[Richard Hill]

Dear Members of ISOC-CH,

As you may have heard in the news, the Swiss Parliament has recently passed
a new law regarding the "information services", meaning the espionage and
counter-espionage services. This new law significantly extends the powers of
those services and also enables them to carry out mass surveillance in
certain situations.

A broad coalition, including actors on the left and on the right of the
political spectrum, has been formed to collect signatures to force a
referendum on this law.

As you know, ISOC-CH is opposed to mass surveillance, so we have joined the
coalition in question. You will find attached the signature forms for the
referendum.

In a nutshell, the arguments against the new law include the following:

* It allows disproportionate and unnecessary invasions of privacy.

* It institutes a mass surveillance regime.

* It allows measures that are dangerous and can be counter-productive, such
as installation of Trojans developed outside of Switzerland.

* It is not needed: existing criminal laws and the existing powers of the
cantonal police forces are sufficient to attain the stated goals of the law:
combating terrorism, organized crime, and protecting the security of
Switzerland and its citizens.

This is just a very high level summary of the arguments against the law.
Further details can be found at:

 
  https://www.lrens.ch/ 

  https://www.nachrichtendienstgesetz.ch/ 

  http://etat-fouineur.ch/lrens/   

  http://schnueffelstaat.ch/ndg/  

 
https://www.partipirate.ch/2015/09/24/non-a-la-lrens-mobilisons-nous-pour-le
-referendum/  

 
http://www.bluewin.ch/fr/infos/suisse/2015/9/28/referendum-lance-par-une--al
liance-contre-l-etat-f.html 

  
The text of the law itself is at:

  https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/federal-gazette/2015/6597.pdf 

Best,
Richard
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