- Proton CEO confirmed the company will leave Switzerland if new controversial monitoring rules go
- A change of current monitoring law requires VPNs and Messaging -Apps to identify and retain user data
- Another Swiss company, Nymvpn, is also ready to leave the country instead of undermining its privacy and security infrastructure
Proton confirms that the company will leave Switzerland if new controversial monitoring rules go.
Switzerland is considering changing its rights of surveillance, with experts warning against the risk of ensuring encryption and online anonymity in the country. Specifically, the amendment may require all VPN services, messaging apps and social networks to identify and maintain user data -a commitment that is now limited to mobile networks and ISPs.
The company behind one of the best VPN and encrypted E email services, Proton, is ready to fight back on behalf of privacy for its over 100 million users. Other Swiss-based companies, such as Nymvpn, do the same as well.
No other choice than to leave
In an interview with RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse) on May 13, 2025, Proton CEO Andy Yen threw the proposal as a “major violation of the right to privacy”, which will also hurt the country’s reputation and its ability to compete at international level.
“This revision is trying to implement something that has been considered illegal in the EU and the United States. The only country in Europe with a roughly equivalent law is Russia,” the Yen said.
The change aims to expand the number of service providers that are targeted to include so -called “derived service providers”. Of crucial importance, the new provisions will introduce three new types of information and two types of monitoring.
If the changes go, Proton will be forced to change how Proton Mail and Proton VPN handle encryption along with its strict no-log policies-something that the company is unwilling to do.
“I think we would have no choice but to leave Switzerland,” Yen said. “The law would be almost identical to the one that applies today in Russia. It is an unsustainable situation. We would be less confidential as a company in Switzerland than Google with a base in the US. So it is impossible for our business model.”
In Switzerland, the new version of the Monitoring Act aims to make it impossible for Proton, Threema and@NymProject to operate from Switzerland. We are in the consultation phase. We will fight. https://t.co/bcmbxzipfcMarch 25, 2025
However, proton is not alone in feeling that way.
A new player in the VPN world, Nymvpn, has also fought publicly in Swiss government plans since the beginning.
When we talked to Techradar, NYM’s co -founder and COO, Alexis Roussel confirmed that NYM will do the same and leave Switzerland if the new surveillance rules are enforced.
What is the next?
When public consultations ended on May 6, 2025, we now have to wait and see what the Swiss government decides.
Nevertheless, Roussel confirmed to Techradar that there has been significant push-back from political parties and Swiss companies.
Some cantons, including Geneva, have even called on the right to digital integrity as an argument against these rules. Roussel was the most important author of the initiative that introduced this new right to protect citizens’ online privacy and data – in Geneva in 2023 and Neuchâtel in 2024 – with over 90% consensus.
Yen also told RTS to be more optimistic, despite pointing out how this question shows the need for a more balanced approach when it comes to creating new laws.
“If we can get Bern to adopt rules of common sense that allow companies like Proton to be competitive in Switzerland and all over the world, I will stay, take my passport and continue investing in Switzerland,” he added.
