FADP

Federal Act on Data Protection (Bundesgesetz über den Datenschutz / Loi fédérale sur la protection des données)

Key Facts

Effective Date
September 1, 2023
Enacted
September 25, 2020
Enforcing Authority
FDPIC (Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner / EDÖB)
Consent Model
Opt-in
Applies To
Any organization processing personal data of individuals in Switzerland

Overview

Switzerland has no cookie-specific legislation equivalent to the EU ePrivacy Directive. Instead, the FDPIC published cookie guidelines in January 2025 (updated October 2025) under the revised FADP, establishing a distinctive tiered consent model that differs from the EU's blanket opt-in approach.

What This Means for Your Website

  • Essential cookies require no consent but must be disclosed in your privacy policy
  • Functional cookies may use a simple opt-out mechanism
  • Advertising and profiling cookies require explicit opt-in consent
  • Continuing to browse is NOT valid consent
  • Unlike the EU, legitimate interest balancing may justify some non-essential cookies under Swiss law
  • Penalties target individuals (up to CHF 250,000), not companies, an unusual criminal enforcement model

Key Requirements

The FDPIC issues orders but cannot impose fines directly. Cantonal criminal enforcement handles penalties. Fines target responsible individuals (up to CHF 250,000) rather than companies (capped at CHF 50,000). The January 2025 cookie guidelines provide the most specific guidance on how Swiss law applies to cookies, with the tiered model reflecting Switzerland's pragmatic regulatory approach.

How ConsentStack Handles This

ConsentStack applies Switzerland's tiered consent model for Swiss visitors: essential cookies load with disclosure, functional cookies offer opt-out, and advertising/profiling cookies require explicit opt-in consent.

Penalties

Criminal fines: up to CHF 250,000 (individuals). Company fines: up to CHF 50,000.

Maximum Fine
CHF 250,000 per violation

Key Requirements

  • Essential cookies: no consent required but must be disclosed in privacy policy
  • Functional cookies: simple opt-out acceptable
  • Advertising and profiling cookies: explicit consent required
  • Continuing to browse is NOT valid consent
  • Legitimate interest balancing may justify some non-essential cookies

Notable Provisions

  • Penalties target individuals, not companies (criminal enforcement model)
  • FDPIC cookie guidelines published January 2025, updated October 2025
  • Legitimate interest can justify some non-essential cookies (unlike EU)
  • No cookie-specific legislation

Data Subject Rights

Challenge automated decisions

Be told of a decision based solely on automated processing that has a legal consequence or a considerable adverse effect on you, state your point of view and ask for it to be reviewed by a natural person, unless it is tied to a contract with you and your request is granted or you explicitly consented.

Access your data30 days

Ask a controller whether it processes personal data about you and receive the processed data itself, generally free of charge; it may refuse, restrict or delay only on the grounds in Articles 26 and 27 and must tell you why, and if it cannot answer in time it must say how long it will take.

Know how your data is used30 days

Receive, with an access request, the controller's identity and contact details, the purpose, the retention period or its criteria, the available information on the source of data not collected from you, any automated individual decision and its logic, and the recipients or their categories, including countries abroad.

Port your data30 days

Receive the personal data you disclosed to a controller in a conventional electronic format, or have it transferred to another controller where that takes no disproportionate effort, when it is processed automatically with your consent or in direct connection with a contract with you.

Correct your data

Have incorrect personal data corrected unless a statutory provision prohibits it or the data is processed for archiving in the public interest, and have data marked as disputed when neither its accuracy nor its inaccuracy can be established.

Object to processing

Object to processing, since processing against your express wishes breaches your personality rights unless an overriding private or public interest or the law justifies it, and ask for a specific processing activity or disclosure to third parties to be prohibited, if necessary through a civil action.

Delete your data

Ask for personal data about you to be deleted or destroyed where its processing unlawfully breaches your personality rights, if necessary through a civil action to protect personality under the Civil Code.

Complain to the Data Protection Commissioner

Report a suspected violation of data protection rules to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), who investigates where there are sufficient indications and tells you the steps taken and the result, though you are not a party to the proceedings.

Other Europe Regulations

GDPREU + EEA
The GDPR sets the global standard for data protection, requiring explicit opt-in consent before processing personal data of EU/EEA residents. For websites, non-essential cookies must be blocked until visitors actively consent. Pre-ticked boxes and implied consent are invalid.
PECRUnited Kingdom
PECR is the UK's cookie-specific law, requiring consent before storing or accessing cookies. The DUAA 2025 significantly increased penalties from GBP 500,000 to GBP 17.5 million and introduced analytics exceptions on an opt-out basis. Only strictly necessary cookies are exempt.
ePrivacy DirectiveEU + EEA
Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive is the primary EU legal basis requiring cookie consent. It mandates prior informed consent before storing or accessing any information on a user's device, with narrow exceptions only for transmission necessity and explicitly requested services.
FDPAFrance
France has the most actively enforced cookie regime in Europe. CNIL issued 259 corrective decisions in 2025, with cookie-specific fines totaling EUR 486.8 million including EUR 325M against Google. A Refuse all button or Continue without accepting must appear on the first layer.
UK GDPRUnited Kingdom
The UK GDPR is the retained EU GDPR post-Brexit, with consent standards identical to the EU version. The UK adequacy decision was renewed December 2025, valid until December 2031. Combined with PECR, it forms the legal framework for cookie consent in the UK.
SI 336/2011Ireland
Ireland implements the ePrivacy Directive through SI 336/2011. The DPC is the lead supervisory authority for major tech companies headquartered in Ireland including Meta, Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Uniquely, cookie consent is limited to 6 months and must then be refreshed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Stay compliant with FADP

ConsentStack helps you implement Opt-in consent for Switzerland automatically.