Switzerland will have to notify citizens when they have been monitored by the country’s spy agencies under new surveillance laws.

Voters overwhelmingly backed the laws in a referendum on Sunday, with 66 per cent voting in favour. They give police and intelligence agencies the authority to tap phones and monitor emails, in keeping with the powers in other countries.

However, unlike in many regimes, citizens will be told when they have been spied on. Under an “obligation to inform the person surveilled”, the SRC, the Swiss intelligence agency, must contact anyone who has been monitored within a month after surveillance ends, giving them details about how and for how long they were watched.

The SRC must also tell a suspect why they have been monitored, although there are exceptions – if it is against the public interest, if it would affect legal proceedings, or if the information could put people in danger.