Theft and threats out of the way, Zurich turns to bank secrecy law violations to jail former banker
Rudolf Elmer at a press conference in Zurich 19 January
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Rudolf Elmer was arrested again in Zurich Wednesday evening, shortly after being handed a suspended sentence. Elmer had a quick court hearing and sentencing Wednesday 19 January, for threatening his former employer, Bank Julius Baer, and for stealing data from the bank in 2002, which he then gave to WikiLeaks and others in 2008. He was widely reported to have been charged with breaking bank secrecy laws, not in fact the case.
Zurich police say he was taken into custody again late Wednesday on suspicion of breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws after he publicly handed two disks with data to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London, last weekend, stating that they contained bank data. Elmer also said publicly, during his day in court Wednesday, that he had handed over to bank data to tax authorities and media groups.
NZZ reports that the cantonal prosecutor has until Friday evening to decide if Elmer will be charged.
Privacy protection is the umbrella for bank secrecy, professional secrecy laws
Swiss bank secrecy laws are part of a group of privacy protection that also cover data protection in the broader sense, limiting, for example, Google Street View’s right to film and sending to jail, as well as professional secrecy laws. The long-running nuclear proliferation Tinner case in Switzerland has involved questions about professional secrecy being violated.
Elmer might be charged under Article 47 of the civil code which requires bankers to protect the confidentiality of clients’ data. It also allows for a subsequent charge of violating professional secrecy:
Google Street View in English: no luck, but try the French version
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Google Street View is being taken to the Swiss administrative high court in Bellinzona, Ticino, by Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner Hanspeter Thuer, after weeks of discussions have failed to force the company to comply with Thuer’s directives. The federal government, in a press release Friday 13 November notes that Thuer “requested Google to take various measures to protect personal privacy in its Street View online service. Google has however refused to implement the majority of the measures recommended.”
Google’s Swiss street views went online in mid-August, but 11 September the government ordered the company to better camouflage faces and vehicle license plates, particularly near “sensitive” areas such as schools, hospitals and prisons. Bern says that in its written reply 14 October Google refused to comply with most of the requests, or take into consideration these problems:
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government Wednesday 8 July issued a terse statement saying it replied to a US federal court in Miami, Florida that UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, cannot under Swiss privacy laws share client data. The statement adds that “the government of Switzerland also points out that the necessary measures to implement Swiss law have been prepared”, without providing details.
