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235.1

English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.

Federal Act
on Data Protection

(DPA)

of 19 June 1992 (Status as of 1 January 2011)

The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation,

based on Articles 95, 122 and 173 paragraph 2 of the Federal Constitution¹,² and having regard to the Federal Council Dispatch dated 23 March 1988³,

decrees:

Section 1: Aim, Scope and Definitions

Art. 2 Scope

Art. 3 Definitions

Section 2: General Data Protection Provisions

Art. 4 Principles

Art. 5 Correctness of the data

Art. 6 Cross-border disclosure

Art. 7 Data security

Art. 7a

Art. 8 Right to information

Art. 9 Limitation of the duty to provide information

Art. 10 Limitations of the right to information for journalists

Art. 10a Data processing by third parties

Art. 11 Certification procedure

Art. 11a Register of data files

Section 3: Processing of Personal Data by Private Persons

Art. 12 Breaches of privacy

Art. 13 Justification

Art. 14 Duty to provide information on the collection of sensitive personal data and personality profiles

Art. 15 Legal claims

Section 4: Processing of Personal Data by Federal Bodies

Art. 16 Responsible body and controls

Art. 17 Legal basis

Art. 17a Automated data processing in pilot projects

Art. 18 Collection of personal data

Art. 18a Duty to provide information on the collection of personal data

Art. 18b Restriction of the duty to provide information

Art. 19 Disclosure of personal data

Art. 20 Blocking disclosure

Art. 21 Offering documents to the Federal Archives

Art. 22 Processing for research, planning and statistics

Art. 23 Private law activities of federal bodies

Art. 24

Art. 25 Claims and procedure

Art. 25^bis Procedure in the event of the disclosure of official documents containing personal data

Section 5: Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner

Art. 26 Appointment and status

Art. 26a Reappointment and termination of the term of office

Art. 26b Secondary occupation

Art. 27 Supervision of federal bodies

Art. 28 Advice to private persons

Art. 29 Investigations and recommendations in the private sector

Art. 30 Information

Art. 31 Additional tasks

Art. 32 Tasks in the field of medical research

Section 6:⁴ Legal Protection

Section 7: Criminal Provisions

Art. 34 Breach of obligations to provide information, to register or to cooperate

Art. 35 Breach of professional confidentiality

Section 8: Final Provisions

Art. 36 Implementation

Art. 37 Implementation by the cantons

Art. 38 Transitional provisions

Art. 38a Transitional provision to the Amendment of 19 March 2010

Art. 39 Referendum and commencement

Commencement Date: 1 July 1993⁵

Final Provision of the Amendment of 24 March 2006⁶

Within a year of the commencement of this Act, the controllers of data files must take the required measures to inform data subjects in accordance with Article 4 paragraph 4 and Article 7a.

Annex
- Amendment of Federal Acts

AS 1993 1945

¹ SR 101
² Amended in accordance with No. 3 of the Federal Act of 19 March 2010 on the Implementation of Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA on the protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, in force since 1 Dec. 2010 (AS 2010 3387 3418; BBl 2009 6749).
³ BBl 1988 II 413
⁴ Amended in accordance with Annex No. 26 des Administrative Court Act of 17 June 2005, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (SR 173.32).
⁵ Federal Council Decree of 14 June 1993 (AS 1993 1958).
⁶ AS 2007 4983 4991

English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.

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