Pension funds
Data protection for pension funds – over an entire working life
Pension funds accompany their members for decades – from joining through departures and vested benefits cases to retirement and beyond. Espresso manages the retention periods, answers requests and deletes as soon as there is no longer any obligation – traceably and with proof.
What makes it challenging for pension funds
Data over decades
A member's data is needed throughout an entire working life and retirement.
Many events
Joining, salary change, departure, vested benefits, divorce, home ownership promotion, disability, death – every event can trigger a retention period.
Sensitive details
Health information in disability cases, details of family and beneficiaries.
Many parties involved
Data flows between employers, management, reinsurers and IT service providers.
How pension funds use Espresso
- Privacy Register Retention periods per event Retention periods with justification and legal basis – approved under the four-eyes principle and reviewed regularly. Go to the module
- Data Deletion Deletion once periods expire The applications report records that are due and delete in the right order – with confirmation and a log. Go to the module
- Subject Request Access requests from members Answer questions from members and pensioners on time, with recorded delivery. Go to the module
- Data Discovery Clean up file storage Find payroll lists, departure documents and exports in file storage and mailboxes. Go to the module
The framework for occupational pensions
In pension provision, long retention obligations meet the principle of not processing data for longer than necessary.
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| FADP | Register, access requests, erasure, data security; health data is sensitive personal data. |
| Occupational Pensions Act (BVG/LPP) | Specific provisions on the processing of personal data and on confidentiality in occupational pension provision. |
| Pensions and vested benefits law | Obligations to retain pension records over long periods. |
| Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) | Retention of accounting records and vouchers for ten years (Art. 958f CO). |
Overview without any claim to completeness; does not replace legal advice in individual cases. As of: 6 October 2026.
Reference
From pension insurance: Pax
Pax, the Swiss pension insurer based in Basel, has been using Espresso Data Privacy since 2024 to delete data automatically across SAP and non-SAP systems.
Read the case study“Pax stands for simple, digital processes with personal service for customers and sales partners. Thanks to the Espresso Data Privacy solution, we were able to streamline these processes significantly and achieve full compliance with data protection laws effortlessly. The system ensures smooth, uninterrupted operation across our entire company – with minimal effort.”
Getting started
Start with the retention schedule
In the “Data deletion concept and retention schedule” consulting service, we work with you to develop data types, retention periods and deletion architecture – and enter the periods straight into the retention schedule.
Frequently asked questions
How long may pension funds retain data?
For as long as the purpose or a legal obligation requires – often a very long time for pension records. After that, the data must be deleted or anonymised. The key is to define the period for each data type together with its starting point.
What happens to the data after a member leaves?
Some records must be retained even after departure. In the retention schedule, you record which period applies; deletion takes place as soon as the application reports the records as due.
Can we start with some of our systems?
Yes. Applications can be connected one after another; existing deletion functions are reused.
Does our data go to the vendor?
No. Espresso runs in the environment you choose: in your data centre, in your cloud or with an operating partner. Espresso never establishes a connection to the vendor of its own accord – no telemetry, no licence server, no access without your approval.
Related topics
- Delete Retention and deletion periods How long data must and may be retained in Switzerland – and how retention periods become deletion rules. Read more
- Delete Data deletion concept under ISO/IEC 27555 Data types, deletion periods, deletion classes: how a data deletion concept is structured and how it takes effect. Read more
- Requests Data subject access requests Deadline, identity verification and content: answering data subject access requests in full under the FADP and the GDPR. Read more
See Espresso in 30 minutes
We will show you the cockpit with sample data – and discuss where you should start.
Request a demoor write directly to info@espressodataprivacy.com