Spys slammed for wide surveillance

The Federal Intelligence Service is under fire for its wide collection of data from telecommunications.

A ruling by the Federal Administrative Court says it goes too far and is breaching fundamental rights. 

The spy agency uses its’s Electronic Operations Centre in Zimmerwald in canton Bern to watch for keywords sent over the internet. If a message triggers an alert, the message is read by a human. 

It means that an email you’ve sent to a friend or family member could have been accessed, and you will know nothing about. 

The current law allows for interception of international messages, but even messages sent between two people in Switzerland are likely to leave the country through a foreign server – making it international.

Judges have determined the surveillance too wide and says the government needs to change the law. 

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