20 Years of Data Protection – Quo Vadis?
Bern, 01.07.2013 - The Federal Data Protection Act came into force exactly 20 years ago. Reason enough to justify a change of focus in this year’s annual press conference. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), Hanspeter Thür, will not review the events of the past year, but rather will engage in a panel discussion that looks to the future: 20 Years of Data Protection – Quo Vadis?
In its dispatch to Parliament in 1988, the Swiss Federal Council wrote that more and more personal data were being collected and processed in ever more complex ways. The report underscored the growing danger of an infringement of privacy rights. In order to counteract this trend, the Data Protection Act came into force on 1 July 1993. Since that time much has changed. IT and communications technologies have developed at a tremendous pace, as has international terrorism. These are but two of the challenges that make it difficult to protect individual privacy and the right of individuals to decide what information may be disclosed about them («informational self-determination»).
Now, 20 years later, Hanspeter Thür, the FDPIC, intends to use the 2013 annual press conference to take stock of the situation and to hold a panel discussion at the Käfigturm Forum in Bern about the future of data protection in the light of the new challenges and the impending revision of the Data Protection Act. Markus Hofmann, the NZZ journalist, will chair the discussions and panellists will include: Viola Amherd, Prisca Birrer-Heimo, Filippo Leutenegger and Jean-Christophe Schwaab, all members of the Swiss Parliament.
The 20th Annual Report, which covers the period from April 2012 to March 2013, will only be given cursory coverage. The FDPIC’s report discusses the projects and advisory activities on which he is currently engaged, highlights current developments and relevant court decisions, and publishes a number of statistics. An overview of the most important issues is provided in the attached summary report.
The full Report on Activities (in German and French) can be found at the following address www.edoeb.admin.ch under Documentation.
Address for enquiries
Information for journalists:
Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC)
Tel. 031 324 94 10
info@edoeb.admin.ch
Publisher
Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner
https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html
