this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2024
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Switzerland has recently enacted a law requiring its government to use open-source software (OSS) and disclose the source code of any software developed by or for the public sector. According to ZDNet, this “public body, public code” approach makes government operations more transparent while increasing security and efficiency. Such a move would likely fail in the U.S. but is becoming increasingly common throughout Europe.

According to Switzerland’s new “Federal Law on the Use of Electronic Means for the Fulfillment of Government Tasks” (EMBAG), government agencies must use open-source software throughout the public sector.

The new law allows the codifies allowing Switzerland to release its software under OSS licenses. Not just that; it requires the source code be released that way “unless the rights of third parties or security-related reasons would exclude or restrict this.”

In addition to mandating the OSS code, EMBAG also requires Swiss government agencies to release non-personal and non-security-sensitive government data to the public. Calling this Open Government Data, this aspect of the new law contributes to a dual “open by default” approach that should allow for easier reuse of software and data while also making governance more transparent.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Good news. I'm not sure what "security concerns" means or how broadly it might be applied, but hopefully it doesn't mean people can't audit the security methods implemented (which would be a dumb move).

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like that carve out could easily be abused to defeat the entire purpose.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

They plan to do that with the new eID they are cooking.. But as far as understood, it should become a SSI Wallet in some sort.