12 November 2019 – On 30 October 2019, the Federal Council signed the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (commonly referred to as “Convention 108”). Switzerland thereby demonstrates its willingness to respect an internationally recognised level of data protection in situations of automatic processing of personal data. Convention 108 simplifies the disclosure of data between the contracting States and cross-border data transfers will be possible without the need for additional safeguards. It will also facilitate interactions with the European Union (EU). Indeed, the EU will take into account Switzerland’s commitments under Convention 108 when it comes to taking an adequacy decision.

As things currently stand, the revision of the FDPA already contains the necessary amendments to ensure compliance of Swiss federal law with these international commitments. If the Swiss Parliament adopts the draft revised FDPA, domestic law will therefore comply with the requirements of Convention 108.