Data protection: SBB gives in
The Association of Public Transport and the SBB give in: The Federal Data Protection Commissioner had asked them to delete the data collected in connection with the "Swiss Pass".
The red "Swiss Pass" is also a "data collector": Whenever the ticket inspector pulls out his little device on the train and checks the validity of the Swiss Pass, the public transport company collects data. According to the Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner (FDPIC), the time, the train/course number and the Swiss Pass ID number are entered for each check and stored for 90 days. This is disproportionate and the legal basis is lacking (see corresponding Media release).
At the end of February 2016, the Association of Public Transport (VöV) and SBB issued their statement on the matter. "The operation of the control database will be discontinued at the end of March 2016. The public transport industry is striving for clear legal bases that will
enable further development of customer-friendly fare systems," the SBB media release states.
