By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BERN (Worthy News) – Switzerland will likely implement a digital identity document (ID) by 2026 after both chambers of parliament approved the necessary steps despite voters rejecting a previous law enabling the scheme.
Worthy News learned Thursday that the so-called e-ID Act will be referred back to the Swiss parliament’s lower house, the National Council, to resolve any disagreements on individual data protection and cyber security issues.
Swiss authorities said the 100 million francs (US$113.3 million) scheme aims to give people more options to confirm their identity.
The Federal Council, Switzerland’s government, stressed that ”Use of the e-ID is voluntary and free of charge.”
In a statement monitored by Worthy News, the Council added that the e-ID “can be used both on the internet—for example, when ordering a criminal records extract online—and in face-to-face situations—for example, in shops as proof of age when buying alcohol.”
The Federal Council said, “Anyone who has a Swiss identity card, a Swiss passport, or a foreign national identity card issued in Switzerland will be able to apply for an e-ID. In response to feedback from the consultation process, the Federal Council proposes that the e-ID be issued online and at passport offices.”
DEBATE ONGOING
However, Swiss sources said the government is still debating how to proceed with its technical implementation and “trust infrastructure.”
In July, a Swiss government commission recommended that e-ID data “be kept exclusively in a government digital wallet.”
Swiss officials say that private wallet makers will be able to store and present the electronic ID in the future if they comply with council regulations.
Yet the scheme is rolled out despite voters throwing out a law governing the proposed electronic identity system in a 2021 referendum amid fears about data protection.
The result was seen as a blow to plans by parliament and the government, but a few years later, both seem to agree on the need for an e-ID for people living in Switzerland.
These developments are part of a broader effort by several governments to digitalize the identities of voters and others under their control.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Authorities in Indonesia’s Central Java Province have halted construction of a church and related tourism compound after pressure from local council members and Muslim groups amid rising anti-Christian incidents in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, sources confirmed Thursday.
A young Christian man is hiding in Pakistan after being falsely accused of making “blasphemous” comments against Islam, an offence that potentially carries the death penalty under the Islamic nation’s strict blasphemy legislation, Worthy News learned Thursday.
France was gripped by a second wave of nationwide strikes on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands marched against austerity measures and looming budget cuts—unrest that not only deepens the political crisis for President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, but also unfolds in a season many prophecy watchers view as charged with significance.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a broad wave of strikes Thursday evening against Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon, escalating its campaign against the Iranian-backed terror group’s Radwan Force.
Three Israeli divisions continued a steady push into Gaza City on Thursday, the third day of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seek to seize Hamas’ last stronghold in the enclave.
FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers Wednesday that while the U.S. southern border has been largely sealed, the threat of terrorist infiltration has shifted northward, with a sharp rise in encounters along the Canadian frontier.
Bank of America’s closure of accounts belonging to a Tennessee church elder and missionary has become a flashpoint in a national fight over alleged “debanking” of Christians and conservatives, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in an exclusive investigation.