Switzerland: Wafer-thin majority in favour of E-ID

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What takes a long time: The Swiss e-ID will now be introduced after all—that's what the people decided on Sunday. A vote with a rather rare accompaniment: the result was very close.

So far, there have only been a few referendums in Switzerland that have been held twice on the same topic. One of these was the new vote on the Federal Act on Electronic Identity Verification and Other Electronic Evidence (E-ID Act). This was because the electronic ID card had been completely redeveloped since the failed first vote. E-ID 2.0 therefore no longer has much to do with the version that was presented for the first vote in 2021 and failed at the ballot box.

According to initial analyses, there was a clear urban-rural divide. Political scientist Lukas Golder from gfs.bern therefore sees “a deeply divided Switzerland” on SRF—in all details.” It could hardly have been closer: 50.39 percent voted in favor of the e-ID.

First vote failed

In the first e-ID vote in 2021, the matter was much clearer: at that time, for example, several personalities from science, business, and politics spoke out in an open letter in favour of rejecting the Federal Act on Electronic Identification Services (BGEID). Based on the BGEID, a digital, national, and standardized identification option should be introduced, as already exists in other countries.

Various groups of E-ID opponents, such as the SP and Green parties, digital activists, and consumer advocates, formed an “alliance against private E-ID.” They launched a successful collection of signatures for a referendum against the entry into force of the BGEID, which was put to a vote in March 2021 and rejected with 64 percent of votes against.

Many critics were not against an e-ID at all but were even in favour of an “e-democracy.” A survey showed that 87 percent of respondents were in favour of issuing a digital ID. However, most of them wanted to receive it from the state. However, the government and parliament decided at the time that the “digital passport” should not be issued by the federal government but by private companies, so to speak. The state alone would have continued to hold citizens' data in its IT systems; when applying for an E-ID, a person's identity would have been officially verified by the federal government to confirm it to an identity provider (IdP). The IdP would then ultimately issue the E-ID. Large commercial companies such as state-affiliated organizations, financial companies, and health insurance companies were envisaged as IdPs. The E-ID opponents successfully mobilized against this.

Second attempt

Nevertheless, the E-ID was not dead. The federal government was still striving for a way for Swiss citizens and people with a residence permit to prove their identity electronically. A new E-ID Act was drafted. In December 2024, a vote was finally held on the new version of the BGEID. The revised version of the e-ID Act was passed by both houses of parliament with a large majority.

Now everything will be different, say the supporters. This time, the responsibility lies entirely with the state. The federal government will develop and operate the necessary infrastructure and issue the E-ID. To this end, it provides an official smartphone app, a wallet called “Swiyu.” Users can use it to apply for, store, and present an E-ID (beta tests with fictitious data can already be carried out with it).

Anyone who wants an E-ID downloads Swiyu, installs the app on their smartphone, and then scans a Swiss ID card with the camera. Once a selfie has been uploaded, the Federal Office of Police checks the details. When the selfie is uploaded, the “Presentation Attack Detection” (PAD) process is used to check whether it is a real, actual person or just a video or picture of a person. To recognize such presentation attacks, PAD checks (eye) movements, reflections, 3D depth, and textures, for example. All further process steps and queries are cryptographically secured. Details on this and the E-ID technology can be found here.

Free of charge and secure

The E-ID is not only voluntary, free, and secure, the Confederation always emphasizes. For much greater trust in the E-ID 2.0—in contrast to the initial project—now not only ensures that the state operates the “trust infrastructure” required for the E-ID to function. The basic register stores the revocation of proofs, the trust register verifies the identity of issuers, and the app is the user's tool for managing digital identities and proofs. The aim is to ensure the best possible protection of privacy and data security.

According to the federal government, other authorities and companies can also use the state infrastructure to offer their own electronic proof of identity, for example, a driving license, confirmation of residence, or a membership card. The e-ID should also be able to be used for proof of age in the physical world. The electronic organ donation register is also to be linked to the E-ID. It is expected that from 2027, people will have to record their objection to a post-mortem organ removal in the register or in the traditional way (objection regulation).

Data minimization

The new E-ID Act now also takes the principles of data minimization and “self-sovereign identity” to heart. For E-ID implementation, for example, it is envisaged that authorities and companies may only request the data that is necessary for the respective use. For example, proof of age merely confirms that the person has reached the minimum age without revealing an exact date of birth. The personal data is also stored decentrally, i.e., only on the user's own mobile device.

The new version of the e-ID law was opposed by various groups, such as the coronavirus measures opponents “Mass-voll” and the Pirate Party Switzerland (PPS). Due to internal party disputes about the e-ID, members of the PPS split off from the latter and even founded a new party, “Digitale Integrität Schweiz” (Digital Integrity Switzerland). This was one of the pillars of the “E-ID Act NO” committee. It also includes the Young SVP, the EDU, and the “Friends of the Constitution.”

The upcoming digital passport can apparently only be installed for users of cell phones with iOS or Android—at least initially, according to the federal government. The issuing of E-IDs is scheduled to begin in summer 2026 at the earliest.

(mho)