Should detectives be allowed to spy on insurance claimants to weed out fraud? Swiss voters go to the polls on Sunday to decide between privacy and probity. For the backers of a yes vote – including the government and a majority in parliament – the issue is straightforward: public and private insurance companies need a legally sound means of tracking down beneficiaries they suspect of cheating the system. The legislation,drafted following a 2016 rebuke of Switzerland by the European Court of Human Rights, will thus give private detectives hired by social insurance bodies the legal to follow, or record,welfare recipients anywhere in the public space. For the opponents, however, or things are less clear. Though most agree that some means of tackling fraud is essential,they say that the law approved by parliament in March goes too far, and that it could amount to an assault on the private sphere. The “indistinct” wording of the text could lead to detectives spying on people on ...
Source: swissinfo.ch