Email company threatens to leave Switzerland

Geneva’s encrypted email service, Proton Mail, is threatening to leave Switzerland if the government implements a proposed new surveillance law.

The company’s founder, Andy Yen, says the law has already been deemed illegal in the EU and the US.

It would force messaging services, including WhatsApp, to retain identifiable user data. 

Proton Mail has over 100 million users. 

Yen told the RTS that he would have no choice but to leave Switzerland and says the government needs to show more common sense.

He added the law is almost exactly like the one in Russia.  

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