alt Hacker NewsSource? We need the exact claim here, because there's a fine line between "we're in switzerland, so warrants aren't a thing!" (outright false) and "we're in switzerland, which have better privacy laws than other countries!" (debatable).
Replies
SoftTalker • yesterday at 2:33 AM
But the Swiss have the notion of a warrant, no? So if a Swiss judge or official issues a proper warrant, then a Swiss company or citizen is obliged to comply with it.
I’m not the person who made the claim, but a basic web search led me to this page on their blog:
https://proton.me/blog/data-privacy-abortion
Quote (emphasis theirs, in bold):
> Switzerland is a fundamentally different environment. Two of the things Switzerland is most famous for are also highly conducive to data protection: privacy and neutrality.
> When a law enforcement agency in the US requests user data from a Swiss company, it is illegal for that company to provide the data. At Proton, we reject all data requests from foreign agencies.
> Proton and other Swiss companies will only hand over user data when ordered to do so by a Swiss authority. And even then, Proton’s general policy is to challenge data requests whenever possible and only comply after all legal remedies have been exhausted.
So maybe your parent poster is confused? They do claim that being Swiss protects them from requests from foreign entities, but not Swiss entities. Which is what happened here, the Swiss authorities asked Proton for the data, then they handed it to the FBI.
Has Proton challenged the data and “only complied after all legal remedies have been exhausted”, though? That’s another question.