As current statistics from the Swiss Postal and Telecommunications Monitoring Service (ÜPF service) show, around 40 percent more surveillance measures were ordered in Switzerland in 2025 than in the previous year. This emerges from a federal media release. The surveillance is carried out either on behalf of the Swiss law enforcement authorities or the Federal Intelligence Service (NDB).
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The sharp increase in numbers is based primarily on an increase in so-called antenna searches. An antenna search includes the retroactive recording of all network accesses and communication attempts that occurred at a specific location and were made via the cell phone cells within a selected period of time. In 2025, there was an antenna search in 19,091 cells, which corresponds to an increase of around 69 percent compared to the previous year (2024: 11,290). The number of cases in 2025 will be almost 23 percent higher than in the previous year.
Otherwise, after strong growth in the previous year, the number of measures is only slightly above the 2024 level. For example, the number of real-time monitoring grew by just three percent in 1878 (2024: 1818). The number of retroactive surveillances is 6,531, 382 higher than the previous year (2024: 6,149, +6 percent), and emergency searches increased by around five percent to 1,287 (2024: 1,223). The number of searches has actually more than halved compared to the previous year.
Strong increase in information
A sharp increase was reported in the number of information provided to law enforcement authorities. In 2025, these increased by around 32 percent. 44,836 pieces of complex information (such as copies of ID cards or contract data) were provided (an increase of 39 percent compared to 2024). In addition, 480,245 simple pieces of information (telephone book or IP address queries) were requested (2024: 385,630) and 650,034 simple pieces of information were provided (2024: 495,119).
The federal intelligence service also ordered significantly more surveillance in 2025: 334; 39,130 requests for information were made (49,393 information provided). In the previous year there were 106 surveillances or 12,789 requests for information (15,241 information provided).
Almost 45 percent of all surveillance in 2025 (real-time and retroactive surveillance) related to property crimes – an increase of 45 percent compared to 2024. Digital surveillance is also increasing in Germany: At the BKA, the number of police facial recognition searches in 2025 more than doubled compared to the previous year. In Switzerland, 24 percent of surveillance measures were used for crimes against life and limb (+75 percent compared to 2024) and almost three percent for crimes and offenses against freedom (+50 percent). Measures related to drug offenses increased by ten percent (8 percent share). Measures for sexual offenses have increased significantly (2 percent), rising by over 124 percent.
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IMSI Catcher and GovWare
The number of uses of special IT resources is declining sharply. Uses of GovWare – government surveillance software – fell to four cases (12 in 2024). In Germany, on the other hand, prosecutors have recently recorded an increasing number of state Trojan attacks. Special technical devices (IMSI catchers) were used 151 times (2024: 171). These were largely used in emergency searches for missing people (62) and serious drug offenses (45).
(mki)
