press rank #9 · ~$3,400/mo

Can you live unwatched in Switzerland?

Strong secrecy tradition, cash-friendly, expensive.

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The privacy scorecard

State surveillance4/5
Facial recognition4/5
No national ID3/5
Data-protection law5/5
Encryption5/5
VPN freedom5/5
Democracy5/5
Free expression5/5
Cash still works5/5
Financial privacy4/5
Crypto freedom5/5
Easy to stay2/5
Off-grid living3/5
8 cameras / 1,000 people press rank #9 ~$3,400/mo national average

Childhood vaccines: recommended, never required

Health is cantonal here, so the schedule is federal advice and the delivery is local.

If you skip them: Nothing. Each canton runs its own programme.

Exemptions: Not needed.

Source: Vaccines 2024;12:1296, European survey

Legal & financial exposure

Facts about the law, not a privacy score: whether each one helps or hurts depends on what you are trying to do.

Reports your account balances abroad (CRS)

Extradition treaty with the US

No tax on crypto capital gains

Capital gains on crypto held as private assets are tax-free at federal level; cantons vary on wealth tax.

4 of 7 signals are unverified for this country: not shown, rather than guessed.

16 real places in Switzerland

Facial recognition, Bitcoin friendliness and cost vary by city even inside the same country.

Zurich

~$3,350/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Geneva

~$3,350/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Basel

~$3,250/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Lausanne

~$3,650/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Bern

~$3,250/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Winterthur

~$3,050/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Lucerne

~$3,150/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

St. Gallen

~$3,200/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Lugano

~$3,350/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Thun

~$3,150/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Fribourg

~$3,100/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Sion

~$3,100/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 5/5

Weigh Switzerland against your own threat model

Surveillance, speech, money: filter thousands of real places across every country and see where Switzerland actually ranks.

Browse every place

Not just privacy?

Arcadia matches the same real places against how you actually want to live: weather, cost, healthcare, schools, internet.

Find where to live on Arcadia

Country-level estimates for orientation, not legal advice. Surveillance law changes fast: verify anything you would act on.