Bern, July 21, 2009 – Several data protection issues arise in the area of processing of commercial data by credit and credit reporting agencies. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) has commissioned an external expert to clarify a central question, namely how long the processing of creditworthiness data can be considered proportionate. This expert was able to verify the examination of the question of proportionality on the basis of the practice of a major credit reporting agency, which had agreed to cooperate.