This article gives a general overview and is not legal advice. Correct as of October 2026.
The revised Data Protection Act
Since 1 September 2023, the revised Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) has been in force in Switzerland. It applies to all businesses, regardless of their size (the Federal Government’s SME portal (in German)). Anyone who processes personal data must inform people about it. Even a contact form, server logs or visitor statistics are enough for this to apply. Practically every website therefore needs a privacy policy.
What a privacy policy must contain
At a minimum: the contact details of the party responsible, the purposes for which data is processed, who receives it and, if data goes abroad, to which countries (Art. 19 FADP).
Cookies: opt-out applies in Switzerland
Unlike in the EU, cookies in Switzerland do not in principle require prior consent. You must, however, tell visitors what the cookies are for and give them a way to refuse them (Art. 45c of the Telecommunications Act). Explicit consent is required if the processing is unexpected or carries a high risk. This is set out in the fact sheet from the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) (FDPIC fact sheet on cookies, March 2026 (in German)).
When you usually don’t need a banner
If your website only sets technically necessary cookies, for example for a contact form, and measures visitor numbers anonymously without cookies, a banner is generally not needed. A note in the privacy policy is then usually enough.
When you do need a banner
If you use advertising pixels, for example from Meta or Google Ads, or analytics tools with cookies, you will practically always need a banner with an option to refuse. That is not a problem; what matters is that it is set up properly.
And the EU General Data Protection Regulation?
The GDPR only applies to Swiss businesses if they specifically offer goods or services to people in the EU or monitor their behaviour. The fact that your website can be reached from the EU is not enough. For an online shop that ships to the EU, things are different: the stricter EU rules on cookies then apply as well.
How we do it
By default, we build websites that collect as little data as possible: visitor statistics without cookies on our servers in Switzerland, fonts hosted locally, no embedded third-party services. This makes your privacy policy simpler and often means you can do without a banner. If you need advertising tracking or Google Analytics, we’ll set it up properly on request, banner included.
Did you know that you can use analytics without passing on any data?
You can see which pages are read and where your visitors come from, anonymously and on our servers in Switzerland. Often, you don’t even need a cookie banner for this.
Standard with us. Source: FDPIC fact sheet on cookies (in German) (opens in a new window)Did you know that you can show a map on your website without visitor data going to third parties?
We show your location as an image with a link to directions. It loads faster and doesn’t pass on any data.
Standard with us.