Our Advisor Yves Gogniat has summarized the changes regarding international data transfer in the current issue of the it-business magazine (4/2021). In the wake of the Schrems II ruling, the EU has introduced new standard contractual clauses. Subsequently, the FDPIC has also adapted its guidelines, which is why most Swiss companies should review their transfers too.

In the 2021 winter session, the two chambers of the Swiss parliament will once again be dealing with various IT law topics. We provide an overview. The IT infrastructure of MeteoSwiss is to be expanded so that the entire application landscape is transferred to cloud providers. It will be discussed whether more competences are needed at federal level to defend against the dangers of cyber-attacks (ransomware attacks, etc.).

Christian Laux has contributed to the SATW Technology Outlook 2021 with a short piece on Digital Trust (p. 82). The Technology Outlook 2021 is an important format of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences, SATW. It educates about important trends in Tech. With that approach, it operates very much similarly as a travel guide. Why? "A travel guide is a publication that will tell you about places you want to visit", Christian suggests. It will prepare the reader about places he or she will visit in the future. As the Technology Outlook informs about Tech that is about to come, it also is sort of a travel guide. If you feel ready for this trip, dive into the Technology Outlook 2021 and learn more.

Attacks by cyber criminals have become an everyday reality. In many cases, companies are the direct target. However, businesses and their reputation can also be indirectly affected when individuals are attacked. In their article in the current issue of Computerworld, Marc Feldmann and Alexander Hofmann point out possible approaches how to react.

End of June 2021, the public learnt that the Swiss government was about to outsource data processing to clouds operated by American and Chinese cloud providers. This news caused some outcry among the population. "Data should better be stored in Switzerland, and by Swiss cloud providers" many thought. But is data in the hands of (foreign) cloud providers really insufficiently protected? Actually, a technical analysis would be at the core of the analysis when responding to the question. This article for the “WEKA-Datenschutz-Newsletter” cannot perform this technical analysis. But the article looks at the rules of the cantonal data protection laws as these are usually regarded to be blockers. It examines the most important similarities and differences between cantonal data protection laws, with regard to cross-border disclosure, information security and data protection audits.

As part of Elle's online event "How to deal with cyber risks in law firms?" on 7 October, Christian Laux gave a presentation on the topic of "Cloud + attorney-client privilege - what is the issue? Despite the highly regulated industry, cloud solutions can also be used for law firms. The presentation that now is freely accessible shows how and what needs to be considered.

On 1 October 2021, LES Switzerland Chapter has invited Christian Laux for a keynote speech on open source software. In addition to the copyright principles (interplay of contract law and Art. 3 para. 1 / Art. 12 para. 2 Copyright Act), the relationship to patent and trademark law was also discussed.

Recently, NZZ has reported that a billion-dollar deal incurs the risk of not being closed because Stadler Rail is said to have used an incorrect electronic signature. In the wake of the pandemic, many companies and government authorities have been looking for electronic signature and seal solutions. The attorneys at Laux Lawyers AG have gained experience in this area that clients in both the private and public sectors can benefit from. Our experience goes beyond the purely legal side. Thanks to our established collaboration with the document automation platform dociq.io (docIQ has implemented electronic signatures) we also know the technical side. It is also possible for Swiss companies to introduce the electronic signature according to CH- and EU-standards and to use them in parallel if need be (as per the requirements in a given scenario).

On September 15, 2021, at the "SIK Workplace Conference 2021", Christian Laux discussed current issues in the use of cloud solutions by the public sector. We have summarized Christian Laux' statements and proposals how to get this done in a short presentation that can be accessed here.

On 15 September 2021, Microsoft published a revised version of its Products and Services Data Protection Addendum. We explain the most important changes in our Policy Alert. As expected, Microsoft  implements the new EU standard contractual clauses. It uses the new Module 3 (Processor-to-Processor), and significantly expands the scope of the additional safeguards introduced in the wake of the Schrems II judgment. Read more in our Policy Alert.