Abstract

This article presents a qualitative analysis of the identity and the representational strategy of Threema, a Swiss secure messaging application founded in 2012 and distinctively characterized by its alternative articulation of privacy issues. The application is spread across German-speaking countries of Europe and relies on end-to-end encryption and in-home data centers while adopting an open source and data minimization approach. After an in-depth analysis of the status of surveillance in the public discourse, the study points out an unprecedented discursive combination of cyber-libertarian values and national imaginaries enacted by the company. The category of Swissness is thus proposed to capture two different ways in which Threema exploits its «being Swiss»: firstly, it draws on values that are traditionally associated with Switzerland, such as «discretion, precision, reliability»; secondly, the Swiss state is regarded as a provider of a safer jurisdiction than the US and EU ones. The contestation of the digital surveillance regime is thus highly securitized, as enemies are clearly identified, and alternative worlds are proposed. Results are significant for a double reason: while the complex and dynamic relationship between cultural factors and the socio-technical construction of privacy is highlighted, its impact on the Internet infrastructures is debated. We thus explore the possibility that a nation-based understanding of privacy may result in a bottom-up Internet fragmentation.