More emergency searches, fewer surveillance measures
In 2017, the police authorities ordered more emergency searches from the Post and Telecommunications Surveillance Service (Dienst Überwachung Post- und Fernmeldeverkehr, ÜPF) than in the previous year. The number of surveillance measures decreased slightly.
There was an increase of around 20 percent in the number of emergency searches in 2017. They totaled 618 (previous year: 514). These telecommunications monitoring measures help to find and rescue missing persons.
Monitoring orders of the NDB
Since the entry into force of the Federal Intelligence Service Act (NISA) on September 1, 2017, the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) has also been one of the customers of the ÜPF service. In the first four months, the FIS issued 108 requests for information and ordered 89 surveillance operations, of which 10 were real-time and 79 were retroactive. A procurement measure subject to approval pursuant to Article 26 et seq. NDA can lead to several surveillance orders, e.g. if the surveillance of the same cell phone number is ordered with different telecommunications service providers.
Less real-time monitoring
Both the number of real-time monitoring measures (eavesdropping on telephone calls or reading e-mails) and the number of retrospective monitoring measures (call records, who called whom and when, and for how long) have decreased compared to the previous year. In 2017, 2512 real-time monitoring measures were ordered (previous year: 2795) and 5438 retroactive monitoring measures (previous year: 5756). It should be noted that one person is often subject to several surveillance measures, for example because he or she uses several telephones.
As a result, the total number of surveillance measures fell by around 7 percent, to 7950 (previous year: 8551). The measures are ordered by the public prosecutor's offices to investigate serious crimes (violent crimes, sexual offenses, crimes against life and limb) and approved by the competent compulsory measures court. The Federal Administrative Court is responsible for measures ordered by the FIS.
Drug trafficking, property crimes and violent crimes
Last year, the ÜPF service processed 7,950 surveillance measures. Most of these measures were for serious violations of the Narcotics Act (36 percent). This was followed by orders for serious property offenses with 32 percent and for criminal acts against life and limb (6%). Organized crime accounted for 3.6 percent of all surveillance orders. The remainder were for other types of offenses, such as crimes and offenses against liberty and criminal acts against sexual integrity.
With regard to the total number of offenses according to Police crime statistics (a total of 557,129 criminal offenses), surveillance for offenses such as "money laundering," "arson" or "rape" is much more prevalent in the statistics of the ÜPF service than for "narcotics trafficking" or "theft," for example. All in all, this approach shows that surveillance of postal and telecommunications traffic is rarely used, namely for about 1.5 percent of all registered offenses.
Less detailed information and phone book queries
The law enforcement authorities also obtained less information in 2017. Technical administrative information (detailed information on telecommunications connections, subscriber identifications) declined by around 11 percent to 3,501 (previous year: 3,922). Similarly, simple information (telephone directory inquiries, IP address inquiries) was requested less frequently. Their number decreased by around 15 percent to 172,186 (previous year: 202,052).
More fees and less compensation
Despite fewer orders, the law enforcement agencies and - since September 1, 2017 - the FIS as a whole paid more fees in the reporting year than in the previous year. The reason for this is that the amendment to the Fees Ordinance came into force on January 1, 2017, increasing fees by 5 percent. As a result, fees totaling a good CHF 12.98 million were collected in 2017, around 2 percent more than in the previous year. The postal and telecommunications service providers were paid compensation of around CHF 8.9 million. The difference of around CHF 4 million is used to finance the ÜPF service, although the contribution margin is currently only around 45 percent.
The information available on the website of the service ÜPF (www.li.admin.ch) lists in detail all surveillance measures and requests for information ordered by law enforcement agencies and the FIS in 2017.
Press release
Service monitoring postal and telecommunications traffic
