DocMuse is a private, paid service run by The Muse Technology EOOD (Bulgaria). It is neither a public authority nor a law firm, is not connected with the Confederation, a canton, a commune or any court, and does not give legal advice. Official forms are free from the authority concerned.
Request for access to your personal data under the Swiss FADP (Switzerland)
Switzerland · in English
CHF 2.00Fill it in online free — pay only to download
11 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in Switzerland
Fill in the form
Your answers stay on this device for 7 days, or until you clear them.
- Instant download after payment
- Backup link emailed to you
- No account needed
For anyone who wants to know what data a company, an association or a federal office holds on them: requests access under Art. 25 of the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, in force since 1 September 2023) — Swiss law, not the GDPR. The answer is free as a rule and due within 30 days (Art. 18 DPO). Cantonal and municipal authorities fall under cantonal law. Send it by registered post or e-mail. Swiss authorities and courts work in their official language — German, French or Italian — so this English version is for dealings between private parties.
- Made for use in Switzerland
- Last updated November 4, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You want to know what personal data a Swiss company holds about you.
- An online shop in Switzerland keeps profiling you and you want to see what it has stored.
- A federal office holds a file on you and you want a copy of your data.
- You moved to Switzerland recently and want to check your data in English, not under the GDPR.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Applicant
- Applicant's address
- Data controller
- Controller's address
- City
- Date
- Date of birth
- Client number
- What your request especially concerns (blank for all your data)
- How you want the answer
Common questions
- What does a Swiss data access request entitle me to receive?
- Confirmation whether data about you are processed and, if so, at least: the controller's identity and contact details, the data themselves, the purpose, the retention period or its criteria, where the data came from, any automated individual decision and its logic, and the recipients, with the country for transfers abroad (Art. 25 para. 2 FADP). Health data may reach you, with your consent, through a health professional you name (para. 3). The right cannot be waived in advance (para. 5).
- Can I send a data access request in English to a Swiss company, and is it free?
- Yes: the request must be in writing, and e-mail is enough (Art. 16 DPO); no language is prescribed, and a company will usually answer an English request. A federal office may reply in German, French or Italian. The answer is free (Art. 25 para. 6 FADP) and due within 30 days of receipt, or the controller must say within that time when it will come (Art. 18 DPO). Only for disproportionate effort may it ask up to CHF 300, announced beforehand; without your confirmation within ten days the request lapses at no cost; once you confirm, the 30 days run from the end of those ten days (Art. 19 DPO).
- How do I enforce my right of access if a Swiss company stays silent?
- Send a reminder with a short deadline. You can then go to the civil court in the simplified procedure (Art. 243 para. 2 let. d CPC), without court costs, at conciliation too (Art. 113 para. 2 let. g and 114 let. g CPC). You can also report the case to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC; EDÖB), who may open an investigation (Art. 49 FADP). Wilfully false or incomplete information is punishable, on complaint, by a fine of up to CHF 250'000 (Art. 60 para. 1 let. a FADP). Courts and the FDPIC work in their official language — German, French or Italian.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Request for access to your personal data under Swiss law, in German (Switzerland)
For people in Switzerland who want to know what data a company, association or federal office holds on them, in German: requests access under Art. 25 FADP (the revised Data Protection Act, in force since 1 September 2023) — Swiss law, not the GDPR. The answer is free as a rule and due within 30 days (Art. 18 DPO). Cantonal and municipal authorities fall under cantonal data protection law. Send it by registered post or e-mail.
- Request for access to your personal data under Swiss law, in French (Switzerland)
For people in Switzerland who want to know what data a company, association or federal office holds on them, in French: requests access under Art. 25 FADP (the revised Data Protection Act, in force since 1 September 2023) — Swiss law, not the GDPR. The answer is free as a rule and due within 30 days (Art. 18 DPO). Cantonal and municipal authorities fall under cantonal data protection law. Send it by registered post or e-mail.
- Request for access to your personal data under Swiss law, in Italian (Switzerland)
For people who want to know what data a company, association or federal office holds on them, in Italian: requests access under Art. 25 FADP (the revised Data Protection Act, in force since 1 September 2023) — Swiss law, not the GDPR. The answer is free as a rule and due within 30 days (Art. 18 DPO). Cantonal and municipal authorities fall under cantonal data protection law. Send it by registered post or e-mail.
- Asking for a rent cut after the reference rate dropped, in French (Switzerland)
For tenants in Switzerland whose rent was set at a higher reference mortgage rate than the current one: the written request to the landlord or the régie for a lower rent under Art. 270a of the Code of Obligations (CO), from the next termination date. It gives the rate your rent is based on, the current rate, the cut you ask for and the 30 days the landlord has to respond, and names your canton's conciliation authority should the landlord refuse. Check your entitlement first with the tenants' association ASLOCA's free calculator. Every tenant signs; send by registered post. In French.
- Request for or correction of an employment reference (Switzerland)
For employees in Switzerland, in English: asks the employer for a full reference, an interim reference or a confirmation of employment (Arbeitszeugnis, Zwischenzeugnis, Arbeitsbestätigung) under Art. 330a CO, or for the correction of a reference that is wrong or incomplete, with the current and the requested wording and a deadline. You can ask at any time, also while still employed. Swiss authorities and courts work in their official language — German, French or Italian — so this English version is for dealings between private parties.
- Request for or correction of an employment reference, in German (Switzerland)
For employees in Switzerland, in German: asks for a full reference, an interim reference or a confirmation of employment under Art. 330a CO, or for the correction of a reference that is wrong or incomplete, giving the current and the requested wording and a deadline. You can ask for a reference at any time, also while you are still employed. Print, sign and send it to the employer by registered post.