Ordinance on Telecommunications Services (OTS)
Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 80 Processing traffic data
1 Telecommunications service providers may process customers’ traffic data without their consent, in so far and for as long as this is necessary: a. in order to provide telecommunications services; b. in order to obtain payment for the services provided; c. to fulfil statutory obligations; d. for its own purposes not related to specific persons. 2 They may only process traffic data for other purposes with the consent of the customers concerned or if the data is anonymised.
Art. 80 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 81 Communication of data used for billing
1 During the period in which they may dispute an invoice, customers may ask their telecommunications service provider to supply them with all the information used for billing. Where numbers of the calling connections are provided for this purpose, the last four digits of the numbers are not supplied. 2 Data concerning calls to the telephone helpline for children and other minors in terms of Article 28 letter f TSRO may not be communicated. 3 In the case of connections with prepayment for services, the data must be communicated on request within one month of charging of the fee. 4 If customers dispute the bill for a value-added service or do not pay it on time, the telecommunications service provider may communicate to the value-added services provider concerned the available personal data of these customers that is necessary to enforce the claim.
Art. 81 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183). Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the O of 5 Nov. 2014, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 4161). Para. 2 — SR 784.104 Para. 2 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 82 Communication of data to identify nuisance calls and unfair mass advertising
1 Where a customer credibly shows in writing they are the victim of nuisance calls or have received unfair advertising as defined in Article 3 paragraph 1 letter o, u or v of the Federal Act of 19 December 1986 on Unfair Competition (UCA), the telecommunications service provider must supply the customer with the following data, provided it is available: a. the date, time and duration of the connections or date and time of the message; b. the addressing resources, names and addresses of the customers whose connections were used for the calls or from which the unfair mass advertising was sent. 2 If the data cannot be provided retrospectively and a continuation of the nuisance calls or unfair advertising is probable, the provider must gather the necessary data and communicate the data that may be requested to customers. 3 If nuisance calls are made or unfair advertising is sent from connections of customers of another telecommunications service provider, all the providers involved in the
Art. 82 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 July 2021 (AS 2020 6183). Para. 1 — SR 241
Art. 83 Preventing unfair advertising
1 Telecommunications service providers must protect their customers from receiving unfair advertising as defined in Article 3 paragraph 1 letter o, u or v UCA, insofar as the state of the art allows. 2 They shall provide customers with suitable mechanism that the providers must operate. They shall inform customers when entering into the contract and once every year about the advantages and disadvantages this mechanism. The customers must be able to deactivate and reactivate the mechanism at any time free of charge. 3 The providers may block unfair advertising. 4 If a provider is aware that one of its customers is sending or forwarding unfair advertising via its telecommunication network, it must immediately block the sending of these messages and prevent the establishment of the corresponding connections. It may disconnect customers which send or forward unfair advertising from the telecommunication network. 5 Each provider must operate a contact point for unfair advertising which orig
Art. 83 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 July 2021 (AS 2020 6183). Para. 1 — SR 241
Art. 84 Calling line identification
1 When technically feasible with justifiable outlay, telecommunications service providers must offer their customers a simple and free-of-charge facility for concealing – for individual calls or permanently – the indication of their number that appears on the called person’s equipment. 2 They must expressly draw their customers’ attention to this facility when the subscription contract is concluded. 3 They must in all cases guarantee identification of the calling line for connections for which location must be guaranteed in accordance with Article 29 paragraph 1 and Article 90 paragraph 4 and for calls to the transcription service for the hearing impaired in accordance with Article 15 paragraph 1 letter e. Other than in the case of calls to their own fault service, no other customer shall be provided with an indication of the number of a caller who has requested suppression of the calling line identification.
Para. 3 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 85 Called line identification
1 When technically feasible with justifiable outlay, telecommunications service providers shall offer their customers a facility for concealing the indication of their number on the equipment of the caller. 2 They must expressly draw their customers’ attention to this facility when the subscription contract is concluded.
Art. 86 Automatic call forwarding
When technically feasible with justifiable outlay, telecommunications service providers must, without charge, offer their customers a facility for stopping automatic call forwarding by a third party to their equipment.
Art. 87 Security of telecommunications services
1 Telecommunications service providers shall inform their customers of the risks inherent in using their services of interception and intervention by unauthorised third parties. 2 They must offer or indicate appropriate means of eliminating those risks.
Art. 88 Directories
1 Customers appearing in a directory shall have the right to indicate clearly therein that they do not wish to receive advertising communications from persons with whom they have no commercial relationship and that their particulars may not be communicated for direct canvassing. 2 and 3 ... 4 Suppliers of online directories shall adopt the appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent the contents of an entry or part of the directory from being changed or deleted by unauthorised persons.
Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183). Para. 23 — Repealed by No I of the O of 5 Nov. 2014, with effect from 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 4161).
Art. 89 Data protection legislation
Provided this Ordinance does not contain any special regulations, the Federal Act of 25 September 2020 on Data Protection applies.
Art. 89 — Amended by Annex 2 No II 87 of the Data Protection Ordinance of 31 Aug. 2022, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 568). SR 235.1
Art. 89a Information on protecting children and other minors
Internet access providers shall inform their customers about the options for protecting children and other minors on the internet. They shall provide individual support to their customers for using specific protection options.
Art. 89a — Inserted by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 89b Prohibited pornography
1 Internet access providers shall ensure that they can receive communications from the Federal Office of Police referred to in Article 46a paragraph 3 first sentence TCA. They shall introduce the required measures immediately in their systems in response to the notifications. 2 They shall ensure that they can be contacted in writing by third parties as referred to in Article 46a paragraph 3 second sentence TCA. They shall report any suspected cases to the Federal Office of Police immediately.
Art. 89b — Inserted by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).