The Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) recently launched new guidance on cookie use. Extending the Federal Act on Data Protection, or nFADP, which took effect in September 2023, the revised Swiss approach to cookies indicates that clarity and choice may trump consent. That is, consent remains important in serving the personality rights of users, but transparency and specificity comes into even sharper focus.
New guidance: Specificity rules
The new guidance goes beyond just requiring consent and encourages website owners to provide more specificity with regard to cookie categorization. The idea is to give more power to users by clarifying what kinds of cookies they must accept for website functionality while ensuring they understand which cookies are optional and what their purposes are. Here a distinction is made between essential cookies, for which websites can proceed without consent because their use is deemed as “proportional”, and non-essential cookies, examples of which include marketing and tracking cookies.
Beyond which, the Swiss guidance emphasizes the importance of making it easy to reject non-essential cookies and opt-out of data processing.
What does the updated Swiss cookie guidance mean?
The updated guidance applies to anyone whose website(s) can be accessed and used by Swiss users. The size and jurisdiction of the website owner – from an individual blogger to Google – does not matter. The same principles will apply across the board.
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Take action for compliance
If in doubt about whether a website would already comply with these requirements, it’s time to do a cookie audit to classify your cookies into necessary or optional categories and make clear what optional cookies do. Explanations for optional cookies and their purposes need to be clear and concise with easy ways to opt out made prominent.
With a comprehensive cookie and consent management platform, it’s easy to take action for compliance and for better, more transparent user experiences.
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