2023

12.12.2023 - Cybercriminals have stolen hotels’ access data to booking platforms such as booking.com and are trying to defraud hotel guests.

29.11.2023 - Following the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, several applications for access to information were submitted to the General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Finance (GS-FDF) and the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF). Following the refusal of access, the FDPIC received requests for mediation of varying content. Insofar as the documents fall within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, the FDPIC recommends the deferral of access until the Parliamentary Investigation Commission PInC has completed its work if their disclosure could significantly harm the free opinion-forming and decision-making process of the PInC.

24.11.2023 - During the coronavirus pandemic, several applications for access to contracts for COVID-19 vaccines were submitted to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). After the FOPH had published partly redacted contracts, the FDPIC received ten requests for mediation. In his six recommendations, the FDPIC concludes that access should be granted to a large extend. This concludes the proceedings involving the FDPIC.

22.11.2023 – The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner hosted the European Case Handling Workshop in Bern from 8 to 9 November 2023. Under the aegis of the Conference of European Data Protection Authorities, representatives from almost 40 data protection authorities exchanged views on current challenges in dealing with the latest technologies.

14.11.2023 - On 13 November, the FDPIC opened a preliminary enquiry against the company Concevis AG and the Federal Statistical Office FSO due to indications of possible violations of data protection regulations.

06.10.2023 - The operations which are the focus of unlawful data processing allegations against Oracle America, Inc. in the USA do not affect the Swiss population. The FDPIC has terminated its investigations and decided not to bring formal proceedings.

08.09.2023 - At the meeting in Bern, President Berset presented the Council of Europe's secretary general with the instrument of ratification confirming Switzerland's adoption of the modernised Convention on Data Protection of 1981 (Convention 108). The amending protocol (Convention 108+) is intended to respond to the challenges resulting from the use of new information and communication technologies.

31.08.2023 – With the entry into force of the revised Data Protection Act, there is now an obligation for federal bodies and private individuals to prepare a data protection impact assessment if the planned data processing entails a high risk for the personality or fundamental rights of the data subjects.

24.08.2023 - The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), acting with nine other national data protection authorities, has published a joint statement to social media platform operators on the protection of personal data against data scraping. This is generally understood as the automated extraction of data from the internet.

18.07.2023 - The factsheet is designed to provide a brief overview of the investigation. It summarises the in-depth interpretations of the FDPIC on Articles 49-53 FADP (see "Untersuchung von Verstössen gegen Datenschutzvorschriften durch den EDÖB").

13.07.2023 - In view of the entry into force of the revised Data Protection Act on 1 September 2023, the FDPIC is completing its reporting portals with the online registration of contact details of Data Protection Officers.

10.07.2023 - The FDPIC has taken note of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the corresponding EU adequacy decision. Switzerland is also engaged in discussions on a parallel framework with the U.S. (Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework), these discussions are well advanced. As of September 1, 2023, it will be the responsibility of the Federal Council to decide on the adequacy of states under the new Swiss data protection legislation. It will be up to the Federal Council to determine whether the U.S. can be added to the list in due course. Until such a framework is finalized, Switzerland's adequacy list will remain unchanged.

11.05.2023 - The FDPIC has updated the content of its website ahead of the new Data Protection Act coming into force on 1 September 2023. At the same time, it is launching the ‹DataBreach Portal› for reporting security vulnerabilities.

06.04.2023 - In the Emergency Ordinance of 16 March 2023 on Additional Liquidity Assistance Loans and the Granting of Federal Default Guarantees for Liquidity Assistance Loans made by the Swiss National Bank to Systemically Important Banks, the Federal Council stipulated, inter alia, that no access to official documents will be granted under the Freedom of Information Act. The exclusion of citizens' rights of access guaranteed by the Freedom of Information Act by way of an emergency ordinance raises fundamental legal issues.

Nach dem Verbot von ChatGPT in Italien rät der EDÖB Nutzerinnen und Nutzern zu einem bewussten Umgang mit KI-gestützten Anwendungen und erinnert Unternehmen an ihre Pflichten.

07.03.2023 - The Microsoft Office 2021 applications that are currently still run locally throughout the Federal Administration are to be replaced by the public cloud-based Microsoft 365 application. The FDPIC will provide supervisory support for the outsourcing project.

15.02.2023 - Die heutigen Medien berichteten über ein Projekt der SBB betreffend Erhebung von Daten in Bahnhöfen, mit denen Personenflüsse optimiert werden sollen.

27.01.2023 - Elections and votes at all federal levels in Switzerland now take place in a digitalised world. Those involved in forming political opinion use the potential of digitalisation to specifically target their campaigns at voters. In this, voters’ rights to privacy and self-determination may come under considerable threat.