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Requests

Right to erasure – erasure requests in practice

With an erasure request, a person asks an organisation to delete their personal data. The GDPR regulates this right explicitly in Art. 17 (“right to be forgotten”). In Switzerland, it follows from the processing principles and the legal claims under Art. 32 FADP.

When is there a right to erasure?

Under Art. 17 para. 1 GDPR, personal data must be erased, among other things, if it is no longer necessary for its purpose, consent has been withdrawn and there is no other legal basis, the person has successfully objected, or the data has been processed unlawfully.

The Swiss FADP has no article of its own with this title, but reaches a similar result: personal data must be destroyed or anonymised as soon as it is no longer required for the purpose of processing (Art. 6 para. 4 FADP). Processing against the express wishes of the person is a violation of privacy unless there is a justification (Art. 30 para. 2 let. b and Art. 31 FADP), and the data subject can demand deletion through the courts (Art. 32 para. 2 let. c FADP).

Which exceptions apply?

Not every erasure request leads to immediate deletion. Typical reasons for retaining data:

  • Statutory retention obligations, for example ten years for accounting records and vouchers (Art. 958f CO; Art. 17 para. 3 let. b GDPR).
  • The establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (Art. 17 para. 3 let. e GDPR).
  • Ongoing proceedings, investigations or official requests (legal hold).
  • Overriding interests that justify the processing (Art. 31 FADP).

In these cases, the data is blocked: it is retained but may only be used for the retention purpose – and is deleted once that purpose no longer applies.

How is an erasure request carried out?

A clean process has six steps:

  1. 1Verify the identity of the requesting person.
  2. 2Determine in which systems the person appears.
  3. 3Check whether retention obligations or deletion holds stand in the way.
  4. 4Approve the deletion – under the four-eyes principle for sensitive cases.
  5. 5Delete in all affected systems, in the right order.
  6. 6Collect the responses, inform the person and retain the proof.

Under the GDPR, the recipients to whom the data was disclosed must also be informed of the erasure, where this is possible and proportionate (Art. 19 GDPR).

What deadline applies to an erasure request?

Under the GDPR, the same deadline applies as for access requests: without undue delay and at the latest within one month, with the option of an extension (Art. 12 para. 3 GDPR). The FADP does not specify an explicit deadline for erasure requests; a request should be handled without unnecessary delay.

Delete, anonymise, block – what is the difference?

Action Effect When appropriate
Delete The data no longer exists. The purpose and retention obligation no longer apply.
Anonymise The link to the person is permanently removed; the remaining details are kept. For statistics and analyses without reference to individuals.
Block The data is kept but may only be used for the retention purpose. For retention obligations and legal holds.

How Espresso helps

From the request through approval to confirmed deletion in every system – in one continuous process.

  • Record the request

    Subject Request records the request, verifies the identity and approves the deletion order under the four-eyes principle.

  • Delete across all systems

    Data Deletion deletes in the right order and takes objections from the applications and deletion holds into account.

  • Back with proof

    The result of the deletion is returned to the case. Only what has been confirmed counts as deleted.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a “right to be forgotten” in Switzerland?

Not by that name. However, the FADP requires personal data to be destroyed or anonymised as soon as it is no longer needed, and gives the data subject a right to have it deleted (Art. 6 para. 4 and Art. 32 para. 2 let. c FADP).

What happens if there is a retention obligation?

Then the data is blocked instead of deleted, and deleted once the obligation expires. The data subject is told which data is still being retained and why.

Do backups also have to be cleaned up?

In practice, backups are usually not cleaned up individually but expire according to their defined cycle. What matters is that deleted data does not reappear unnoticed when a backup is restored.

How do you prove that data has been deleted?

With a response from every system that has deleted data, and a log for each deletion run. An order alone does not prove that the data is actually gone.

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