SWITZERLAND FDPIC CONCLUDES SWISS-US PRIVACY SHIELD FAILS TO OFFER ADEQUATE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
October 19, 2020
On September 8, 2020, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (the FDPIC) issued a policy paper concluding that the Swiss-US Privacy Shield does not provide an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from Switzerland to the United States. The FDPIC relied upon the July 16, 2020 decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) which ruled that the EU-US Privacy Shield was invalid. Following its annual assessment of the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield regime, the FDPIC concluded that while the arrangement guarantees special data protection rights for individuals in the country, it fails to provide an adequate level of protection for data transferred out of the country to the U.S. Unlike the CJEU, the FDPIC lacks the authority to completely invalidate the Swiss-US Privacy Shield. However, unless Swiss courts rule to the contrary, affected companies will no longer be allowed to rely upon the Swiss-US Privacy Shield framework to transfer data between the two countries.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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