Proton’s CEO, Andy Yen, has announced that the company would be forced to leave Switzerland if the country’s proposed new surveillance legislation is passed. Known for its commitment to privacy, Switzerland is home to Proton VPN, one of the most privacy-focused VPN services in the world.
The proposed legal changes would significantly impact Proton VPN’s strict no-logs policy and undermine its status as a leader in privacy protection. The legislation seeks to expand surveillance measures to include VPNs, messaging apps, and social media companies, compelling them to collect and store user data—an action that directly conflicts with Proton VPN’s privacy principles.
A Threat to Privacy
Proton VPN’s business model hinges on privacy, making a no-logs policy a cornerstone of its service. The proposed law would mandate the collection of user data, severely compromising this policy and, by extension, Proton’s ability to maintain its reputation as one of the most secure VPN providers. In a direct response, Yen emphasized that the company would rather leave Switzerland than jeopardize its users’ privacy.
The Swiss government closed the consultation period for the proposed law on May 6, 2025. The findings from this consultation are still pending.
Yen’s Strong Criticism: Comparing Switzerland to Russia
In an interview with Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) on May 13, Andy Yen vehemently criticized the proposed law, calling it a “major violation of the right to privacy.” He argued that the law would directly contradict Proton’s “privacy by default” tagline and could render Switzerland’s legal environment almost indistinguishable from Russia’s, which has some of the strictest VPN laws in the world.
“This revision attempts to implement something that has been deemed illegal in the EU and the United States,” Yen remarked, comparing Switzerland’s potential move to Russia’s notorious internet censorship. In December 2024, Russia tested its “sovereign internet structure,” which involved disrupting internet services in multiple regions.
“If this law passes, we would have no choice but to leave Switzerland,” Yen warned. “The law would make us less confidential than companies like Google, which are based in the United States. It’s an untenable situation for us.”
Broader Impact on Switzerland’s Encrypted Services Industry
Proton VPN is not the only company that would be impacted by these changes. The new law would require significant modifications to encryption standards and introduce a host of new data collection and monitoring requirements. This would affect other Swiss-based encrypted service providers, such as the secure messaging app Threema and the recently launched NymVPN.
NymVPN, which has also voiced strong opposition to the proposed law, issued a detailed statement through its Chief Operating Officer, Alexis Roussel, criticizing the legislation and its potential impact on the broader encryption and privacy sector in Switzerland.
A Turning Point for Switzerland’s Reputation on Privacy
The outcome of the consultation could dramatically reshape Switzerland’s reputation as a privacy haven. If the law passes, it could push companies like Proton out of the country, leaving users to seek alternatives in jurisdictions with less stringent privacy protections.
As it stands, Switzerland’s role as a global leader in privacy and data protection remains under threat, with Proton leading the charge against what it sees as a grave violation of user rights and encryption standards.
