New bill on electronic ID goes down well in the National Council

The large chamber approved the bill on Thursday by 175 votes to 12 with two abstentions. The no votes came from the SVP parliamentary group. The Council also approved a total of around one hundred million francs for the development and operation of the necessary systems. The bill now goes to the Council of States.

In the National Council, the tenor was that the new bill was much better than the previous one. The Federal Office of Justice had drawn the right conclusions from the defeat in 2021. It was also good that the opponents of the bill at the time had been included in the drafting of the new bill.

There was talk of a "mature proposal" (Maya Bally, AG, on behalf of the Center Group), "significant improvement" (Min Li Marti, ZH, SP Group) and "very good proposal" (Sibel Arslan, BS, Green Group).

E-ID: Free and voluntary

In 2021, the first e-ID law clearly failed at the ballot box after a referendum was held against it. Security concerns were the deciding factor for the people's "no" vote, according to post-voter surveys. At the time, the Federal Council still wanted to leave the issuing of the e-ID to private individuals.

The new E-ID Act has been fundamentally redesigned, said Justice Minister Beat Jans in the National Council. According to the new bill, the Federal Office of Information Technology and Telecommunications will provide the trust infrastructure required for the e-ID. The Federal Office of Police will be responsible for issuing the e-ID.

Jans went on to say that great importance had been attached to decentralized data storage in the design: personal data would be stored on the E-ID user's cell phone. There they are protected in multiple ways. Regular checks of the system, including by external parties, are planned.

The E-ID will be free of charge and voluntary - it will not replace the current identity cards or passports. It could also be used by people with disabilities. It is planned that the E-ID will be available online, but also at passport offices.

"The aim is for us to be able to identify ourselves securely and easily in the virtual world from 2026," said Jans. This will make life easier for everyone and save time. According to parliamentary documents, one specific use case is ordering an extract from the criminal record electronically or providing proof of age when buying alcohol in a store.

Foundation for digital transformation

The Federal Council also wants the state infrastructure created for the purpose of the e-ID to be available to cantonal and communal authorities as well as private individuals. In future, it should also be possible to manage documents such as confirmations of residence, business register extracts and diplomas as digital proof on a smartphone.

In presenting its proposal in November 2023, the Federal Council wrote that the Confederation was thus creating the basis for Switzerland's digital transformation.

According to the Federal Council, anyone who wants an e-ID will have to download an app on their smartphone and scan a Swiss-issued ID document using a camera. A selfie must then be uploaded. The Federal Office of Police must then check the authenticity of the information.

Several amendments approved

The National Council approved several of the Commission's amendments without discussion after they were adopted. These amendments are intended to further increase the protection of personal data and emphasize the role of the federal government. The detailed debate on the bill was thus over in a flash.

Specifically, the Commission is calling for an expansion of the e-ID architecture to ensure anonymous identification, for example to enable anonymous online proof of age.

It also wants the source code of the trust infrastructure software to be published in full and the Confederation to publish disclosure guidelines. (SDA/swi)