- Demand for relaxation of data protection legislation and limitation of the FDPIC’s intervention in private companies in order to reduce bureaucracy and costs.
- thesis that strict data protection regulations inhibit innovation, restrict freedom of use and jeopardize Switzerland’s economic competitiveness.
Postulate Nantermod (24.405): Stopping the tyranny of data protection
Submitted text
The Federal Council is instructed, as part of a legal analysis, to take effective measures for Simplifications in data protection legislation to be submitted. The data protection provisions are to be relaxed, extensive interpretations of the legislation prevented and the interventions of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) with private individuals limited.
Justification
With the development of information technology, data protection has become a major concern. The topic has become such a focus that it has become a real business. Countless advisors have made data protection their profession.
It is no longer about making everyday life easier for citizens and protecting their privacy. On the contrary, the high data protection requirements unnecessarily complicate interpersonal relationships, prevent and complicate access to very practical tools, increase costs for companies and create a hellish bureaucracy.
While the authorities set up specifically for data protection purposes numerous guidelines inspireThe latter have the justified feeling that they are being patronized and can no longer enjoy the benefits of new technologies unhindered.
Examples of this are the numerous bans on using very practical applications such as Whatsapp, the sometimes absurd requirements for companies to obtain data that is not confidential at all, or the eternal cookies that make surfing the internet so exhausting. Apple recently announced that it would no longer offer some of its services, including the most practical ones, to users in Europe due to unnecessary data protection legislation. In Switzerland, the FDPIC even intervened with the Digitec platformThe platform does not have the right to demand the creation of a customer account for orders. This intervention by the FDPIC in the private sector has nothing whatsoever to do with data protection.
Furthermore, the new data protection regulations mentioned above are a clear obstacle to innovation at a time when Europe and Switzerland must be careful not to lose touch economically. Last but not least, against the backdrop of the current spending cuts, one might ask whether considerable savings could not be made in the area of data protection.