Switzerland: Issued ruling in lawsuit concerning use of evidence from chat monitoring on Instagram

On 15 May 2024, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled that evidence from chat monitoring on Instagram is admissible in criminal proceedings. The name and details of the complainant were kept anonymous. The ruling highlighted that Instagram users give valid consent to data monitoring by agreeing to the platform's terms of use and privacy policies, which sufficiently inform them of the data collection practices. The ruling also clarified that personal data, including IP addresses and phone numbers, are considered identifiable and are subject to data protection laws. Additionally, the ruling acknowledged the risk of data being transferred to the USA by US-based companies such as Meta, stressing that users should be aware of this possibility.