Since the beginning of 2002, all Swiss Internet service providers (ISPs) have been legally obliged to record the time, date, sender ID and receiver ID of all emails. While the information to be recorded does not include the content of emails, legal experts have expressed concern that the law poses an unnecessary threat to people's privacy.

"[Under] the new law, Internet providers in Switzerland are required to keep certain information about the mail that is exchanged," says Zurich-based information technology legal expert, David Rosenthal. "However, there are so many loopholes that the successful interception [of criminal emails] would be so low. I personally don't believe it justifies the immense effort and intrusion into privacy," he told swissinfo.

[ Read more ]