17.10.2019 – On the eve of the federal parliamentary elections on 20 October, Facebook is set to introduce features aimed to appeal to Swiss users of its social media platform. The company confirmed the plans following an enquiry made by the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. The FDPIC welcomes the company’s transparency.
Facebook to introduce special features in Switzerland for the elections
After the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) learned through various reports that Facebook was planning to introduce features on its social media platform in connection with Switzerland’s 2019 parliamentary elections such as a ‘voter button’, he wrote to the company requesting further information.
In his letter, the FDPIC, referring to sections 5.3 and 7 of the FDPIC’s Guide, pointed out that operators of social media networks are called on to provide fair and full information about how the feature should work and how the resulting data is to be processed. Only if such transparency exists can voters gauge whether and to what extent the way in which the data gleaned from the applications in question are processed could have an influence on opinion forming or voter behaviour.
Facebook Ireland Ltd subsequently confirmed that the functions will be introduced on its social media platform one day before the elections and on election day itself. The features are to be displayed on the profiles of all Swiss voters and Facebook users. Facebook is not going to select certain users or user groups.
According to the written assurances given by Facebook, the features are solely intended to raise the awareness of users for the upcoming elections, and ultimately to encourage voter participation by allowing users to show on their profiles that they have cast their vote in the elections. Facebook stresses that the company will not process data relating to the political views of users in this context.
Furthermore, Facebook has demonstrated that the company has taken heed of the transparency requirements set out in our Guide. Facebook users can read about the various functions and features it employs by clicking on the links to the multi-level information pages.
Last modification 09.06.2023