Imagine you are sitting on a tram, lying in the pool, or sharing something personal in a café. Every pair of glasses, every ring, every lapel pin could be filming. You don't see it and never find out where the footage ends up: on Instagram, on servers abroad, in the training of an AI. In 2025 alone, about seven million camera glasses were sold worldwide. New devices are following.
This changes all of us. If you could be filmed at any time, you speak more cautiously and try not to stand out. Social media creates the feeling of being constantly judged, brought to the phone. Camouflaged cameras take it to the streets. Free conversations and encounters are, however, the foundation of democracy.
Warning lights and consent obligations don't help. A rule works only when its breach is noticed. With a camera that looks like glasses or a piece of jewelry, you notice nothing. The only way to check is whether such devices are being sold. Devices for covert recordings have been prohibited in Switzerland since 1969. Camouflaged cameras are included in that.
Criminal law, according to Article 123 of the Federal Constitution, is a matter for the Confederation. This petition calls on the Federal Assembly to ban all camouflaged cameras. Sign now: The more we are, the less politics can look away.
People can assume in public spaces that they are not being recorded secretly. It is not the individual recording that is the main harm, but the feeling that they could be recorded at any time.
Prohibit: Camouflaged cameras are considered espionage devices. Camera glasses and other devices that are not clearly recognizable as cameras are equated in the criminal code with devices for covert recordings. Manufacturing, importing, selling, advertising and possessing are prohibited. Anyone who uses such a device is committing an offense.
Capture: Every form, today and in the future. The ban applies to glasses, rings, pins, pendants and all future devices that discreetly or continuously capture image or sound. What matters is what a device can do and how it looks, not its name. Smartphones and clearly recognizable cameras are not affected.
Prohibit: Facial recognition by private entities. No one may identify people in public spaces using facial recognition. It is also prohibited to offer apps, facial search services or devices with this function in Switzerland. Thus, no stranger can find out who you are and where you live via a photo.
Enforce: Control in trade, platforms, and customs. The federal government controls merchants, online shops and platforms that deliver to Switzerland. Platforms must block offers of prohibited devices for Switzerland. Customs confiscates prohibited devices, even for orders from private individuals.
Exclude: Only vetted tools. People with visual impairments continue to receive assistive devices, based on a medical prescription and registration. These devices only process images for immediate assistance, do not store anything and do not transmit anything else. Their use in closed enterprises also remains permitted.