This is what happens with the Swiss E-ID

On Thursday, the Federal Council will begin discussing a new template for creating electronic ID (E-ID) in Switzerland. This was three years after the people at the ballot box had clearly rejected such a proposal. This time the Federal Council proposes a state solution.

The National Council is the first to submit to the federal bill on electronic ID and other electronic evidence. As the Federal Council stated in November when presenting the legal project, the E-ID should be offered from 2026.

Many applications

The use of the E-ID must be voluntary and free and the E-ID must be used both on the Internet and in everyday life. This is the case, for example, when ordering an extract from your criminal record electronically or for proof of age when purchasing alcohol in a store.

All federal services for which the E-ID can be used must continue to be offered in analog format. At the same time, all Swiss authorities must accept the E-ID as a valid proof of identity, provided that they allow electronic proof of identity in principle.

According to follow-up polls in 2021, security concerns were the decisive factor in the population’s no to the first e-ID law. The federal government has taken this into account, Federal Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said in November when she presented the template. Private individuals would no longer play a role in the new template.

The federal government will be responsible for issuing the E-ID and for providing the infrastructure necessary for its operation.

Commission praises proposal

The National Council’s provisional advisory committee clearly approved the bill in February, with 21 votes against, 0 and three abstentions. She wrote that the new design is “significantly” different from the one that failed in 2021.

The holders of an e-ID would have the greatest possible control over their data. Data protection is guaranteed by the system itself, but also by minimizing the necessary data flows and by decentralized data storage.

According to the Federal Council, this data is stored on the user’s smartphone.

However, the Advisory Committee of the National Council requests the council to make some changes to the draft to further improve the protection of personal data and emphasize the role of the federal government. The committee wants to make it possible for people to show their age anonymously.

(dsc/sda)