Switzerland starts, stops, and finally passes its new Data Protection Act

In 2017, Switzerland began discussions on revising its data protection law. The revised law is intended to bring the current Swiss data protection law in line with the EU GDPR.

On September 17, 2020, the National Council, one of two chambers in the Swiss parliament, debated the revised Swiss Data Protection Act, but failed to pass it (see link). There were issues with the definition of profiling, express consent, and exceptions to the data protection law concerning the creditworthiness of a customer.

On September 25, 2020, the National Council and the Council of States found agreement on the three issues that derailed the September 17th negotiations. Thus, they passed the revised Swiss protection law.