[ad_1]
- The National Council rejects Switzerland’s participation in the expanded Schengen database SIS.
- The proposal failed due to opposition from the SVP and the Greens. The SP abstained from voting.
- The vote concerned the Schengen Information System database.
- The largest police database in Europe will be even bigger. This poses data protection problems for Switzerland.
The Schengen Information System (SIS) is the largest police database in Europe. In it, people and things are advertised for searches throughout Europe. Almost 70 million entries are registered.
The SIS is widely used: only Swiss officials access the database 300,000 times a day, or three and a half searches per second. The SIS contains mostly stolen cars and counterfeit ID cards, but there are also 700,000 people on this wanted list.
SIS will become even more extensive
To better combat terrorism and illegal migration, the SIS will now be further expanded. More people should have access and the database should contain more information. Now the DNA of missing persons or persons illegally residing on European soil will also be registered.
These extensions are not without controversy: expanding a database as large as the SIS would be risky, says Astrid Epiney, a professor of European law at the University of Freiburg.
Use data only for its intended purpose
Because data always has a purpose. They should therefore only be used for this purpose, says Epiney: “The SIS was originally designed only for the prosecution of crimes and corresponding access to data for, for example, suspicious persons or vehicles.” Therefore, the SIS data should not be used for any other purpose, such as finding out if someone who intends to marry has been married before.
The Federal Police Office does not see this danger. Florian Näf, Fedpol media spokesperson: “If a person commits a crime, is unequivocally identified and is on the run, then the person is advertised in the SIS. That is to say: The SIS is not a database, but an information system, a search system ».
