Swiss endorse digital ID plan in narrow referendum approval

Swiss citizens yesterday September 28 voted in favour of a government move to introduce a digital ID in a referendum that had just 50.39 percent of voters saying yes.

The yes votes came mainly from urban areas, with Zurich Canton proving to be what saved a rejection verdict, Swiss Info reports.

Less than 8 of the country’s 26 cantons fully supported the idea with the results showing a very wide urban-rural divide over the digital ID plan, and with conservative voters largely against it. In all, 49.61 percent said no.

The government had led a campaign in favour of the digital ID ahead of the referendum.

The referendum on the Swiss government-controlled e-ID introduced under the Federal Act on Electronic Identification Services, was necessitated by concerns over data privacy and security, despite the government plan having had the greenlight from both chambers of parliament. Other issues highlighted by critics of the digital ID included surveillance fears, digital exclusion, low level of trust, and lack of clarity about its importance.

The referendum push became concrete when a committee collected at least 50,000 signatures in support of it. Voter turnout for the exercise was 49.99 percent, a figure considered as high for such votes in the country.

Results of the referendum mean that the government will go ahead with the plan, which it says is vital in advancing Switzerland’s digital transformation agenda. But analysts argue that authorities must better explain the idea and the challenges it could bring. The government says the digital ID will be managed entirely by public authorities and will operate in a decentralized manner where citizens have control over the data they share.

Political scientist Lukas Golder told Swiss Info in an interview that one of the issues the referendum laid bare is the lingering mistrust between the government and the people, a key issue that has to be sorted out. He said the mistrust had continued since the COVID era.

Sunday’s referendum was the second vote on the introduction of a digital identity for citizens after that of 2021 which failed. That year, 64 percent of voters said no to the digital ID plan.

Digital ID on Swiyu app

The digital ID, once active, will be stored on a digital government mobile wallet application Swiyu and owning the digital ID will be optional. The digital wallet app was put to public beta testing in March.

With the positive referendum results, the digital ID is expected to be rolled out by 2026, the government says.

There is a budget of over $200 million planned for the digital ID verification infrastructure.

Article Topics

data privacy  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital ID infrastructure  |  e-ID  |  Switzerland  |  SWIYU