Data protection for associations and clubs: what the Swiss FADP requires
By Advisorn · updated on 26 October 2026
In brief
The FADP also applies to associations, with no exception for volunteers (Art. 2 FADP). The committee must inform members how their data is processed (Art. 19 FADP), use it only for the association's purposes, ask for consent to publish photos and, for minors, involve the parents. A data protection advisor is not mandatory.
The typical data
- list of members with contact details and dates of birth;
- membership fees and contributions;
- photos and videos of events;
- data of minors and their parents;
- licences and registrations with federations, sometimes medical certificates.
Sensitive personal data
Sports medical certificates and information on injuries are health data; membership of a political, religious or trade union association can reveal opinions or activities that are sensitive personal data (Art. 5 let. c FADP). They must be handled with more care and not disclosed without a reason.
Volunteers and private devices
In associations the data is often on the private computers and phones of committee members and in chat groups. It is worth deciding where the list of members is kept, who has access to it, and what happens when someone leaves the committee.
Federations and sponsors
Passing members' data to the federation for licences is as a rule necessary and must be stated in the privacy notice. Giving it to sponsors or commercial partners for their advertising, on the other hand, requires the members' consent.
Photos and results
- publishing photos of recognisable people as a rule requires their consent, for minors that of the parents;
- at events, a notice at the entrance and the option of not being photographed;
- rankings and results with name and year of birth: only what is needed, and with information to participants.
Related questions
- Does the new FADP apply to my SME?
- May photos of employees or customers be published on the website or social media?
- Children's data: do special rules apply?
- How long may personal data be kept?
- Is consent required to process personal data in Switzerland?
- Newsletters: is consent needed to send marketing e-mails in Switzerland?
Useful templates
- Privacy notice template for customers and contractual partners
- Image release form template for customers, guests and visitors
- Parental consent form template for processing a child's data
- BYOD policy template on the use of private devices at work
- Data retention policy template with retention periods
- Employee confidentiality undertaking and instructions template
The other sectors
General information, not advice on your case: for your case the text of the law is what counts, and for a sector with rules of its own, those rules too.