Switzerland To Hold Referendum on Introducing Electronic ID (swissinfo.ch)
- Reference: 0177388527
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/05/08/1343219/switzerland-to-hold-referendum-on-introducing-electronic-id
- Source link: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/the-referendum-against-the-introduction-of-the-e-id-is-successful/89284041
The proposed e-ID would enable citizens to apply online for criminal record extracts, driving licenses, and age verification when purchasing alcohol. This marks the second referendum on e-ID implementation, after voters rejected a previous version in 2021. The government has revised its approach, making the new system free, optional, and fully state-operated rather than privately managed. If approved, the e-ID would come into force no earlier than 2026, though the collection effort suggests privacy concerns remain paramount for many Swiss voters.
[1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/the-referendum-against-the-introduction-of-the-e-id-is-successful/89284041
Direct Democracy at Work (Score:3)
It's pretty cool that in a population of about 8.8 million, it only takes 55k signatures to trigger a referendum (about 0.006% of the population). I'm not saying that's always a good idea but Switzerland has, as far as I am aware, a long history of putting policy like this directly to the electorate.
Re: Direct Democracy at Work (Score:2)
Right. A true democracy at work. Now pardon me while I take my SIG 550 to the range for some target practice.
Re: (Score:2)
> I'm not saying that's always a good idea
Doesn't scale particularly well, it would seem. Many jurisdictions have some form of direct democracy at a local level, with the electorate involved being the size, or larger even, than the entire Swiss population. It just rarely goes to a national level, perhaps for good reasons.
I want ... (Score:2)
... the Swiss franchise for RFID blocking wallets.
Anybody see a problem here? (Score:2)
"enable citizens to apply online for criminal record extracts, driving licenses, and age verification when purchasing alcohol."
Not sure if they should be promoting people applying for driving licenses when purchasing alcohol.
Just say no (Score:2)
Why anyone would want this, IDK. What's wrong with just carrying a card in your wallet?
Re: (Score:2)
If you want to buy any regulated goods online you need one of this.
Re: (Score:2)
So how is this done now?
Re: (Score:3)
In person
If you want alchohol, tobacco, ... you need to go in person to buy it.
Re: (Score:2)
The answer is in the second paragraph of the summary.
It is two-factor authentication for when doing things over the Internet that requires a high level of security.
We've got the model with commercial entities over here in Sweden, and it blows. The market-leader (I don't want to call it "popular") is used for online banking. It wasn't really two-factor authentication in the true sense of the word, and has therefore not been impervious to scams in which people have lost their savings -- after which the banks
Re: (Score:3)
> Why anyone would want this, IDK. What's wrong with just carrying a card in your wallet?
Plastic cards suck, for many reasons.
1. They're forgeable. Digitally-signed data is not. Sure, governments can and do implement lots of anti-forgery mechanisms, but it takes almost as much expertise to use those anti-forgery mechanisms to validate a legitimate card as it does to fake one. Approximately no one checking plastic cards knows how to properly validate them. Digital ID cards require a bit of equipment to check them, but the equipment is ubiquitous (almost every smartphone in existence has a
Re: (Score:2)
> Why anyone would want this, IDK. What's wrong with just carrying a card in your wallet?
A physical ID card is only really suitable for in-person identification. As more and more services are provided online, better electronic identification mechanisms are being developed.