The transfer of personal passenger data to the US authorities by airline companies that are subject to Swiss data protection legislation is covered under an agreement between Switzerland and the US. The agreement was approved by the Federal Council on 4 March 2005. In it the US pledges to offer the same guarantees as it does to the EU. From a data protection perspective the agreement can be deemed acceptable. A similar agreement was concluded with Canada on 16 March 2006.
In our 11th Annual Report covering the period 2003/2004, we argued that an agreement between Switzerland and the US on the transfer of personal data by airline companies to the US authorities represented the best way of satisfying the requirements of our data protection legislation. An agreement to that effect was then concluded between Switzerland and the US in November 2004. This agreement, which is very similar to the EU-US agreement, was approved by the Federal Council on 4 March 2005. From a data protection perspective it can be deemed acceptable. The list of data to be transferred is less extensive than originally requested. Highly sensitive data, for example data on the health of passengers or data allowing inferences to be made about their religion, may not be communicated to the US authorities. Data may only be used for the purpose of combating terrorism and international crime. Originally the US had wanted to be able to store the data for 50 years: that period has been reduced to 42 months. In addition to the information provided to them by the airline companies, passengers also have a right to know from the US authorities which body is responsible for the collection of personal data, the purpose of the collected data, the processing of the data, as well as procedures regarding the right of access to and correction of data. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) has the power to intervene on behalf of any individual concerned by these measures. The US authorities will be conducting a joint evaluation of the implementation of the agreement with their Swiss counterparts.
A similar agreement was concluded with Canada on 16 March 2006.
[July 2006]