22 June 2021 – On 23 June 2021, the Swiss Federal Council launched the public consultation on its pre-draft of the revised Swiss Federal Data Protection Ordinance (rev-DPO, download available in German, French and Italian). The public consultation will end on 14 October 2021. Until then, individuals or organisations wishing to participate may submit their opinion on the pre-draft to the Swiss Federal Council. After closure of the public consultation, the Swiss Federal Council will publish – taking into account these submissions – its consolidated draft.

The rev-DPO will specify the provisions of the revised Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (rev-DPA) that the Swiss Parliament adopted on 25 September 2020 (see the Data Protection News of 1 October 2020). For example, the rev-DPO provides for the minimum requirements for data security and the modalities of the information obligations, the data subject’s access right and the notification of data security breaches. The respective provisions in the pre-draft are explained in and clarified by the explanatory report of the Swiss Federal Council (download available in German, French and Italian). Further, differences between the pre-draft and the current Swiss Federal Data Protection Ordinance are illustrated in a comparison table (download available in German, French and Italian).

The rev-DPO and rev-DPA will enter into force at the same time. According to the press release of the Swiss Federal Council (available in German, French and Italian) this should happen in the second half of 2022. We will shortly provide a more detailed update on and assessment of the rev-DPO pre-draft.