4 ms·

As a Swiss citizen myself, I am not convinced that hosting in Switzerland is any better privacy-wise than e.g. in Germany. New laws like BÜPF and NDG seem to ge

As a Swiss citizen myself, I am not convinced that hosting in Switzerland is any better privacy-wise than e.g. in Germany. New laws like BÜPF and NDG seem to get us closer to where the EU is in terms of what the government is allowed to access, and what providers are forced to log. This talk is a good intro on what's going on in Switzerland right now https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7205-netzpolitik_in_der_schweiz#video https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7205-netzpolitik_in_der_schweiz#...

throwaway7767 11y ago
It's branding, people think "swiss" implies trust, when really hosting there is unlikely to offer any better protection than most other european country. The same is true of Iceland. Some well-meaning people had good ideas for new laws and lobbied for them. Most of their suggestions never got implemented, but foreign media was fawning over it and didn't correctly indicate that these were just proposals. So now people believe Iceland is some kind of free-speech data haven.
fla 11y ago
Internationally wise, it's not. We have a long history of doing whatever other big countries ask us to do. Especially when the request comes from the United States. (I'm Swiss as well) Switzerland has been hosting Onyx [1] for fiteen years now ;) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_(interception_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_(interception_system) Edit: typo
- iheartmemcache 11y ago
  Post-2008 (i.e., the final turning point re: the IRS was when the former UBS employee spilled his beans, but I'd be willing to bet Swiss cooperation post 9-11 just by some heavy-handed Homeland Security Agents in poorly tailored suits storming in discourteously) even grandfathered numbered accounts have no security in them for foreign nationals. As I understand it, if you're an MNC you transfer price and lodge your funds in the most tax-friendly domicile (Ireland) and retain those earnings without any remittance. For US nationals, the best way to engage in tax avoidance is to play a game of seashells in the Seychelles (oh god I'm sorry for the pun) with shelf-companies and auxiliary signatories, and keep on routing around until you eventually land up in HK. The only thing a US citizen gain from a Swiss bank account from is protection domestic civil litigation, i.e., divorce claims. Swiss nationals, as I understand it, still retain their anonymity but who really knows. Fun fact: It's not the Caymans, Switzerland, or HK that is the largest tax shelter in the world - it's the US banking system.
  - repomies69 11y ago
    I've heard that for nationals outside US, US is very good place to store your wealth. Because they give zero information outside. However practically all financial institutions outside US are very dependant on US finance infrastructure. That means they will comply hard with US data requests, which means that US citizens outside US have hard time hiding their assets.
iuguy 11y ago
It's also worth bearing in mind that a VPS has it's limits compared to physically segregated kit.

throwaway7767 11y ago

It's branding, people think "swiss" implies trust, when really hosting there is unlikely to offer any better protection than most other european country. The same is true of Iceland. Some well-meaning people had good ideas for new laws and lobbied for them. Most of their suggestions never got implemented, but foreign media was fawning over it and didn't correctly indicate that these were just proposals. So now people believe Iceland is some kind of free-speech data haven.

fla 11y ago

Internationally wise, it's not. We have a long history of doing whatever other big countries ask us to do. Especially when the request comes from the United States. (I'm Swiss as well) Switzerland has been hosting Onyx [1] for fiteen years now ;) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_(interception_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_(interception_system) Edit: typo

iheartmemcache 11y ago
Post-2008 (i.e., the final turning point re: the IRS was when the former UBS employee spilled his beans, but I'd be willing to bet Swiss cooperation post 9-11 just by some heavy-handed Homeland Security Agents in poorly tailored suits storming in discourteously) even grandfathered numbered accounts have no security in them for foreign nationals. As I understand it, if you're an MNC you transfer price and lodge your funds in the most tax-friendly domicile (Ireland) and retain those earnings without any remittance. For US nationals, the best way to engage in tax avoidance is to play a game of seashells in the Seychelles (oh god I'm sorry for the pun) with shelf-companies and auxiliary signatories, and keep on routing around until you eventually land up in HK. The only thing a US citizen gain from a Swiss bank account from is protection domestic civil litigation, i.e., divorce claims. Swiss nationals, as I understand it, still retain their anonymity but who really knows. Fun fact: It's not the Caymans, Switzerland, or HK that is the largest tax shelter in the world - it's the US banking system.
- repomies69 11y ago
  I've heard that for nationals outside US, US is very good place to store your wealth. Because they give zero information outside. However practically all financial institutions outside US are very dependant on US finance infrastructure. That means they will comply hard with US data requests, which means that US citizens outside US have hard time hiding their assets.

iuguy 11y ago

It's also worth bearing in mind that a VPS has it's limits compared to physically segregated kit.