Improving the exchange of police information – partial revision of the Federal Constitution and amendment of the Federal Act on Federal Police Information Systems (BPI)
On 18 February 2026, the Federal Council submitted the above-mentioned bill for consultation, proposing an amendment to Article 57 of the Federal Constitution and a partial revision of the Federal Act on Police Information Systems (BPI). The bill aims to create the legal basis for the Federal Office of Police (fedpol) to operate a police query platform for the cantons and the Confederation.
The FDPIC recognises the legislative concerns associated with the bill, which he accompanies in his supervisory role. He also welcomes the fact that the Federal Council has taken key data protection concerns into account. For example, the bill provides for restrictions on the use of the query platform for minor offences and contraventions. The FDPIC's technical comments on the partial revision of the BPI were included in the explanatory report. The report also mentions that fedpol will clarify the existing data protection impact assessment after the consultation process has been opened, in accordance with the FDPIC's specifications.
The FDPIC also recommended that the competent federal authorities clarify the purpose of the federal police query platform in the legal text of the BPI after evaluating the consultation process, in coordination with the parallel draft from the cantons. This is the draft from the Cantonal Justice and Police Directors (KKJPD) on the creation of an intercantonal agreement on police information assistance via the joint query platform ‘POLAP+’, which has been in a second consultation phase since 2 February 2026. As the KKJPD's draft concordat, which has been amended compared to an earlier version, no longer assigns any tasks to the EDÖB, its assessment under data protection law falls within the competence of the cantonal data protection officers.