In the Spring Session 2023, various IT law topics will be debated again. With the amendment of the Information Security Act (ISG) and the discussion of various initiatives on internet pedophilia, this time, the focus will be on cyber topics.

Various IT law topics will again be dealt with in the 2022 winter session. We provide an overview. The focus is on various digitalisation initiatives. Particularly noteworthy is the consultation on the Federal Act on Digitalisation in the Notary's Offices.

Thomas Steiner and co-panellist Pascale Schwerzmann discussed with the Swiss Informatics Society (SI) how IT professionals can contribute to operationalising compliance with the requirements of the new Swiss Federal Data Protection Act at SI’s EveningTalk of 20 October 2022. Here’s the presentation from Thomas Steiner’s keynote.

The new Swiss Data Protection Act (nFDPA) will enter into force on 1 September 2023. At this year’s annual conference of the Swiss Bar Association (SBA), Thomas Steiner addressed the new requirements and their implementation in law firms. The presentation (in German), which can be downloaded here, contains a checklist for the implementation of the nFDPA – not only for law firms. The presentation focuses, in particular, on tips for the creation and implementation of the records of processing activities, the drafting and implementation of privacy notices and for vendor management.

The Federal Parliament will discuss various IT law topics during its 2022 Autumn session. Digitalisation continues to be a major topic. On the one hand, the Federal Act on the Use of Electronic Means for the Performance of Public Authority Tasks will be discussed, and on the other hand, the National Council will vote on several motions calling for the Federal government to provide financial aid for digitalisation projects in the private sector.

The City of Zurich will allow its organisational units to use cloud services in the future. The City Council has based its corresponding decision of 13 July 2022 primarily on a legal opinion by LAUX LAWYERS AG on the legality of cloud use. LAUX LAWYERS has written the legal opinion on behalf of the Organisation and Information Technology Department of the City of Zurich (OIZ). The legal opinion addresses various legal aspects of the use of public cloud services, including internal authorisations, official secrecy, data protection and lawful access to data. The legal opinion places a particular focus on the US CLOUD Act. We hereby publish the legal opinion by arrangement with the OIZ.

Alexander Hofmann's practice note (for Thomson Reuters) regarding the Swiss banking secrecy law has received its annual update (first published in February 2018).

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.).