The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) has noted the remarks made by Mr David Marcus at his hearing before a US Senate committee on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 relating to the Libra Association’s planned cryptocurrency project, as well as his comments on governance issues related to the Libra Association and on the FDPIC’s role as its supervisory authority.

As the sponsors of the project had not contacted him, the FDPIC wrote to the Libra Association in Geneva on Wednesday 17 July 2019 noting the comments made by Mr Marcus that data protection would be regarded as a fundamental element of the project. The FDPIC also wrote that he assumed that, in relation to personal data, an impact assessment would be conducted of the data protection risks that specified the planned processing procedures, evaluated the data protection risks for the persons concerned, and proposed appropriate measures to minimize these risks.

The FDPIC stated in his letter that as he had not received any indication on what personal data may be processed, the Libra Association should inform him of the current status of the project so that he could assess the extent to which his advisory competences and supervisory powers would apply.

The FDPIC is currently waiting for the Libra Association to respond to his letter of 17 July 2019 and set out their official position.

FDPIC expects official response from the Libra Association