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  • Postu­la­te Der­der (15.4045): Right to use per­so­nal data. Right to copy 

Postu­la­te Der­der (15.4045): Right to use per­so­nal data. Right to copy

Postu­la­te Der­der (15.4045): Right to use per­so­nal data. Right to copy
Adopted 18.12.2015

Sub­mit­ted text

The Fede­ral Coun­cil is ins­truc­ted to exami­ne and report on the ext­ent to which indi­vi­du­als and the natio­nal eco­no­my could bene­fit from the fur­ther use of per­so­nal data. In par­ti­cu­lar, it should exami­ne a “right to copy” for the individual.

Justi­fi­ca­ti­on

Per­so­nal data is stored in ever grea­ter quan­ti­ties by com­pa­nies, espe­ci­al­ly Inter­net com­pa­nies and tra­ding com­pa­nies, as well as by public insti­tu­ti­ons, and exploi­ted and used for their own pur­po­ses. The indi­vi­du­als con­cer­ned have at most limi­t­ed access to this data and remain exclu­ded from its fur­ther eco­no­mic or sci­en­ti­fic use (second use, “secon­da­ry use”). The Fede­ral Coun­cil is to pre­sent a report on how this sta­te of affairs can be chan­ged in the inte­rests of the indi­vi­du­al. In par­ti­cu­lar, the report should pro­vi­de infor­ma­ti­on on the fol­lo­wing points:

1. how can a person’s access to data rela­ting to him or her be enshri­ned in law and gua­ran­teed in the sen­se of a “right to a copy”?

2) How does such a “right to copy” rela­te to the pro­tec­tion against misu­se of per­so­nal data as regu­la­ted in the Data Pro­tec­tion Act?

3) How should we assess the Euro­pean Data Pro­tec­tion Supervisor’s inten­ti­on to include the “right to copy” in the upco­ming reform of Euro­pean data pro­tec­tion legis­la­ti­on (see Euro­pean Data Pro­tec­tion Super­vi­sor: Pri­va­cy and com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness in the age of big data: The inter­play bet­ween data pro­tec­tion, com­pe­ti­ti­on law and con­su­mer pro­tec­tion in the Digi­tal Eco­no­my, March 2014, page 15)?

4. how to assess the eco­no­mic value of the secon­da­ry use of per­so­nal data, and what (addi­tio­nal) eco­no­mic poten­ti­al can be tap­ped by the secon­da­ry use of per­so­nal data under the con­trol of the data subjects?

5. what legal, tech­ni­cal and orga­nizatio­nal solu­ti­ons can be con­side­red for imple­men­ting access to per­so­nal data, and what effort will the­se solu­ti­ons cau­se for com­pa­nies and public administrations?

What plans do other count­ries or the EU have to enshri­ne the “right to copy” in law, and what role should Switz­er­land play in this environment?

State­ment of the Fede­ral Council

The Fede­ral Coun­cil will car­ry out the reque­sted review as part of the revi­si­on of the Fede­ral Act on Data Pro­tec­tion (SR 235.1).