GENEVA – The Swiss government on Friday backed down from plans to require restaurants and bars to take the names and phone numbers of their patrons as a way to fight the coronavirus, after the plan fell foul of privacy concerns.
As Switzerland gingerly emerges from COVID-19 closures, restaurateurs across the country had been facing the requirement, starting Monday, to take down the names and numbers of their patrons as part of efforts to track contacts of coronavirus victims.
But after privacy advocates, restaurant owners and legal experts all cried foul, government officials backed down on their plans, acknowledging that a legal basis didn't exist for such a requirement.