Switzerland Authorizes Safe Harbor Framework For Personal Data Transfers To The United States

The new U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework ("U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor"), effective February 16, 2009, facilitates transfer of personal data from companies in Switzerland to companies in the United States.

Previously, the Swiss Data Protection Act ("DPA") permitted only the transfer of "personal data" from Switzerland to jurisdictions that the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner ("FDPIC") deemed to provide an adequate level of data protection. In order to transfer personal data from Switzerland to jurisdictions that the FDPIC did not deem to provide an adequate level of data protection, the exporting and importing organizations were required to sign an agreement guaranteeing that the importing organization would provide the "appropriate" level of data protection required under Swiss law. The FDPIC has found the following contractual agreements to provide an appropriate level of protection: (1) Standard Contractual Clauses of the European Union, (2) the