SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Lukas Morscher, Lukas Staub and Jil Eichenberger, Lenz & Staehelin
were initiated to address corresponding chal - lenges. In light of recent technological developments, opportunities and challenges associated with AI, the Federal Council instructed the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Ener - gy and Communications (the “DETEC”) to prepare an overview of possible regulatory approaches to AI. The DETEC published the overview on 12 February 2025. Rather than adopting a general cross-sector AI law, Switzerland will maintain its sector-specific regulatory framework. Addition - ally, the Federal Council has decided to ratify the Council of Europe’s AI Convention and propose the necessary amendments to Swiss law to the Swiss Parliament. A draft is expected by the end of 2026. In line with this approach, overarching regulations governing AI will be restricted to are - as concerning fundamental rights, such as data protection. To ensure Switzerland’s regulatory approach remains aligned with that of its key trading partners, the Federal Administration will also develop an implementation plan by the end of 2026 for any additional measures not covered by the proposed legislation. AI in the Federal Administration With respect to the use of AI in the Federal Administration, the Federal Council has taken a series of steps to establish a legal framework and promote its effective integration. Recognising the potential of AI for improving administrative processes, it adopted guidelines on 25 Novem - ber 2020 to provide a framework for its appli - cation. Building on this, in December 2023, the Competence Network for Artificial Intelligence (the “CNAI”) published a fact sheet on generative AI tools. In September 2024, the Federal Coun - cil instructed the Federal Department of Home Affairs and the Federal Chancellery, along with other departments, to draft a proposal for the
co-ordinated use of AI by the end of 2025. It approved a new long-term strategy for its digi - tal business administration (the “GEVER”) on 8 January 2025, which is embedded within the broader Digital Federal Administration Strategy, with plans to leverage AI as a supportive tool. Data Protection In relation to data protection concerns regarding AI, the FDPIC issued several pieces of guidance recently. These are as follows. • Non-binding guidance for AI applications, emphasising that providers of AI applications must inform users in a transparent and com - prehensible way of the purpose and means of the processing of personal data (4 April 2023). • A joint statement with nine other national data protection authorities urging social media platforms and website operators to take measures to protect personal data against data scraping, including for AI model training (24 August 2023). • A statement pointing out that the DPA is directly applicable to AI-supported process - ing of personal data (9 November 2023). • A follow-up statement providing additional guidance on how companies ensure that per - sonal information of their users is protected from unlawful scraping (31 October 2024). Deepfake Technologies Individuals affected by deepfake technologies can invoke the general protection of personality rights under Article 28 of the Swiss Civil Code, which safeguards against unauthorised infringe - ments of personal identity and reputation. Fur - thermore, an explicit prohibition of identity theft has been introduced in Article 179 of the Swiss Penal Code.
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