On 18 November, three of the organisations that have long championed the Reclaim Your Face campaign – Digitale Gesellschaft (CH), Algorithm Watch CH and Amnesty International (CH) – co-launched a brand new and exciting action in the fight to curtail the sinister rise of biometric mass surveillance practices across Europe!

Called ‘Gesichtserkennung stoppen’ (DE) / ‘Stop à la reconnaissance faciale’ (FR), this action calls on Swiss supporters to take a stand for human rights and oppose the expansion of facial recognition and related biometric mass surveillance in Switzerland.

The action, in the form of a petition, complements the long-running European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) run by the 65+ organisations in the Reclaim Your Face campaign. However, because EU laws limit those who can sign an ECI to those people who hold EU citizenship, our Swiss supporters have sadly been unable to make their opposition to a biometric mass surveillance society clear. Luckily, not any more!

The organisers explain why action is needed in Switzerland:

“We have the right to move freely in public places without anyone knowing what we are doing. But automatic facial recognition allows us to be identified in the street at any time. We want to prevent such mass surveillance. Take a stand against automated facial recognition in public places in Swiss cities! Sign our petition today.”

So what are you waiting for? If you live or work in Switzerland, let the government know that you want to be treated as a person, not a walking barcode:

• French link: https://www.stop-reconnaissancefaciale.ch/
• German link: https://www.gesichtserkennung-stoppen.ch/

And if you do have EU citizenship (even if you’re a dual national) then you can give your voice legal weight by signing the ECI to ban biometric mass surveillance