Data protection for private individuals in Switzerland

Crash course on the Act · Part 6 of 12

Data protection in digital marketing

Published: 2 June 2024Updated: 2 November 2026

Advertising is not governed by the FADP alone. Important rules can also be found in the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UCA; German: UWG) and in the Telecommunications Act (TCA; German: FMG).

Email and text message advertising

Mass advertising by email, text message or messenger is only permitted with your prior consent (Art. 3 para. 1 let. o UCA). Every message must state the correct sender and point out an easy, free way to unsubscribe.

There is an exception for customers: anyone who provided their contact details when making a purchase and was informed of the option to refuse may receive advertising for the company’s own similar products or services – until they unsubscribe.

Telephone advertising

If your entry in the telephone directory is marked with an asterisk (*), advertising calls to that number are not permitted (Art. 3 para. 1 let. u UCA). You can have the asterisk added by your telephone provider.

Cookies and tracking

Switzerland has no general requirement to consent to cookies. However, website operators must inform you about the processing and its purpose and point out that you can refuse it (Art. 45c TCA). The principles of the FADP also apply: purpose limitation, proportionality and transparency. Many Swiss websites nevertheless display a consent banner because they also target users in the EU, where stricter rules apply.

Personalised advertising and profiling

If data about your browsing and purchasing behaviour is analysed to predict your preferences, this is profiling (Art. 5 let. f). If such a combination allows essential aspects of your personality to be assessed, it is high-risk profiling; if the company relies on consent for this, that consent must be explicit (Art. 6 para. 7). If you expressly object to the use of your data for advertising, the company may no longer use it for that purpose without a ground for justification (Art. 30 para. 2 let. b).

What you can do

  • Unsubscribe using the unsubscribe link.
  • Object in writing to the use of your data for advertising and request the deletion of your contact details.
  • Use an access request to ask where a company got your address from (Art. 25 para. 2 let. e).
  • Have the asterisk added to your telephone directory entry.
  • You can report unwanted advertising to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Templates: access and deletion – read the legal text: Art. 30 FADP.

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