On September 1, 2023, a number of changes will occur for companies and public bodies in Switzerland regarding data protection: The new Swiss Data Protection Act will come into force (we reported ). The new law primarily promises to align data protection regulations in Switzerland with the data protection law standardized in the EU by the GDPR Swiss Data Protection Act.

Today we’ll take a look at the requirement to appoint a representative. We’ll explore further similarities and differences in subsequent articles.

Obligation to appoint a representative Swiss Data Protection Act

A regulation comparable to the GDPR can be found in Article 14 of the new Data Protection Act (nDSG). According to this provision, private controllers with their register office or residence abroad will in future be requir to appoint a representative in Switzerland if they process personal data of individuals in Switzerland (corresponds to the term “process” in the GDPR) and the following

In this respect, the provision is very closely align with the EU representative regulation in Article 27 GDPR. It is therefore not surprising that the provision does not apply to public bodies.

However, it is controversial whether the aforemention requirements must be met cumulatively or alternatively. In our opinion, australia business fax list the wording of the law can be interpret to mean that an obligation to appoint a representative in Switzerland only exists if all four requirements are met. This would also align with Art. processing of special categories of data or data relating to criminal convictions or offenses.

Function and tasks of the representation

The representative – like the EU representative – primarily serves as a contact point for data subjects and the data protection supervisory authority. To fulfill this task, how to remove a page about you on google? the controller is obligat to publish the name and address of the representative. Upon request, the representative will provide the data subject with information, in particular, on how to exercise their rights.

Requirements for representation

Both natural and legal persons can be appoint as representatives, as long as they are domicil in Switzerland. The DSG does not contain any further requirements in this regard, including any required professional qualifications. However, united states business directory given the function of the representative, we recommend appointing only individuals or companies with appropriate professional expertise and in-depth knowledge of data protection law as representatives.