Recording job interviews in Switzerland: all-party consent, the revised FADP and FDPIC guidance

Recording a job interview with a candidate in Switzerland needs the candidate's consent, even when you are a participant. Article 179ter of the Swiss Criminal Code punishes anyone who, as a participant, records a non-public conversation on a sound carrier without the consent of the other participants, with up to one year's imprisonment or a monetary penalty, on complaint. The revised Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), in force since September 1, 2023, then governs the recording and the transcript, and the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) says consent must be obtained before recording, with clear information about the recording and its purpose. This is the position as of October 2026.

This page adds Switzerland to our country series alongside Germany, France, the Netherlands and Australia. Switzerland is not in the EU and has its own data protection statute rather than the GDPR. Like Germany and France, but unlike the Netherlands or Belgium, it makes a participant's own recording an offense without the other side's agreement.

The Swiss rules at a glance

Can you record a conversation you take part in?

Not without the other side's consent. The Swiss Criminal Code (SR 311.0) has two recording offenses and one exception clause:

• Article 179ter applies to participants. Anyone who "as a participant in a conversation records a non-public conversation on a sound carrier without the consent of the other participants," or keeps, uses or makes available a recording they know was made that way, is liable, on complaint, to imprisonment of up to one year or a monetary penalty (our translation).
• Article 179bis applies to outsiders: listening to or recording someone else's non-public conversation without the consent of all participants carries up to three years or a monetary penalty, also on complaint.
• Article 179quinquies lists the only exceptions for a participant: recording telephone calls with emergency, rescue and security services, and business calls whose content is "orders, mandates, reservations and similar business transactions." Such recordings may be used only as evidence.

A job interview is not an order or a reservation. The FDPIC reads the business exception narrowly: it says the National Council described it as meant for "mass transactions" handled under time pressure, such as order or booking lines, and that recording a complaint or longer contract negotiations without informing the other side is not allowed (FDPIC, recording conversations). Three practical points follow:

• Consent comes first. The FDPIC says valid consent is central, should inform as clearly as possible about the recording and its purpose, and must be obtained before recording so the person can object.
• Treat live transcription as recording. The statute speaks of recording "on a sound carrier." We found no Swiss decision on whether streaming audio to a speech-to-text service without storing it falls under Article 179ter, so ask for consent either way.
• Stop if the candidate says no. Take notes by hand instead, and keep the refusal out of the assessment.

What does the revised FADP require?

The recording and any transcript are personal data under the Federal Act on Data Protection of 25 September 2020, in force since September 1, 2023. The provisions that matter most for interviews:

• Principles (Article 6). Processing must be lawful, in good faith and proportionate; data may only be collected for a specific purpose the person can recognize; and it must be destroyed or anonymized once no longer needed. Where consent is relied on, it is valid only if given voluntarily, on appropriate information.
• Duty to inform (Article 19). At collection, tell the candidate at least who you are, the purpose and any recipients, and, if data goes abroad, the country and safeguards.
• Right of access (Article 25). A candidate can ask for the data you hold, its purpose and its retention period; the answer is free and generally due within 30 days.
• Automated decisions and impact assessments (Articles 21 and 22). A decision based solely on automated processing with a considerable adverse effect must be disclosed and reviewable by a person on request, and high-risk processing needs a data protection impact assessment first.

The Code of Obligations adds an employment-specific limit: Article 328b lets an employer handle data about an employee "only to the extent that such data concern the employee's suitability for his job or are necessary for the performance of the employment contract." The FDPIC applies the same suitability test to applicants: employers may process applicants' data to find out whether they are suited to a particular position, and may ask only for information that shows this (FDPIC, phases of the employment relationship).

What does the FDPIC say about recording calls at work?

The FDPIC's guidance on telephone monitoring at work (FDPIC, telephone monitoring) allows recording business calls for quality control, training or security, on these conditions:

• The people whose conversation is recorded "must be informed of the listening or recording clearly and in good time" and must agree (our translation).
• Where recording is systematic, informing employees in their contract and outside callers by a recorded message at the start of each call can be enough; people with no contract with you must be told orally.
• The duration and frequency of monitoring must be proportionate, and private calls may not be recorded at all.

The guidance also points to Article 26 of Ordinance 3 to the Labour Act, which bans monitoring and control systems intended to monitor employees' behavior at the workplace. An interview recording tool also records your interviewers, so set it up to document candidates' answers, not to supervise staff, and say so in your internal rules.

Do recruitment agencies have extra rules?

Yes. The federal Recruitment and Hiring of Services Act (Arbeitsvermittlungsgesetz, AVG, SR 823.11) has its own data rules. A placement agency "may process data on job seekers and vacancies only to the extent and for as long as they are needed for placement" and must keep them confidential (AVG art. 7(3)). A staffing firm that hires out workers may process their data and pass it to client companies only as far as the assignment requires, and any further processing or disclosure needs the worker's express consent (AVG art. 18(3); our translations). Sharing a recording, rather than a written summary, with a client is hard to call necessary, so get express agreement first; see can recruiters share interview recordings with clients.

How long can you keep recordings and transcripts?

No statute fixes a period. The FDPIC says that at the end of the selection process, rejected applicants' documents must be returned and any copies destroyed unless a justification applies; with the applicant's consent, documents can be kept until a date fixed in advance if they are likely to be reused soon (FDPIC). The Gender Equality Act gives one reference point: a rejected applicant who claims sex discrimination loses the right to compensation unless they sue "within three months of the employer giving notice of refusal of employment" (GEA art. 8(2)). A short, documented period tied to that deadline, followed by deletion, fits Article 6 FADP better than keeping recordings indefinitely. Our candidate data retention policy template has a format.

What if you interview a candidate in Switzerland from the US?

Apply the Swiss rule. The Criminal Code applies to offenses committed in Switzerland and treats an offense as committed both where the act is carried out and where its result occurs (SCC art. 8), and the FADP "applies to circumstances that have an effect in Switzerland, even if they were initiated abroad" (FADP art. 3). A recruiter used to one-party consent at home should ask the Swiss candidate before recording, every time. Your own state's law still applies on the US side; see is it legal to record a job interview. If your agency is established in the EU, the GDPR also applies to it.

Can you use AI note takers or transcription?

Yes, with consent and transparency. The FDPIC said on November 9, 2023 that the FADP is technology-neutral and directly applicable to AI-supported processing, and that manufacturers, providers and users must make the purpose, functioning and data sources of AI processing transparent (FDPIC statement). For an interview tool that means: get the candidate's yes under Article 179ter before it starts, tell them what the tool does with the audio and where it is processed, keep scoring decisions with a person, and check the provider's location against the FADP's rules on disclosure abroad (Article 16). Tools that do not store audio reduce what you have to manage; see AI note takers that don't store audio.

Interview Signal (our product), for example, captures audio from the interviewer's computer with no bot in the call, shows a read-aloud consent line with a one-click pause, and does not keep audio after transcription. In Switzerland you still need the candidate's agreement before it starts, and the transcript remains personal data under the FADP.

A consent line for interviews in Switzerland

Use the candidate's language and read it before anything is captured:

Bevor wir beginnen: Ich möchte unser Gespräch gern [aufzeichnen /
mit einer Software transkribieren], damit ich mich ganz auf Sie
konzentrieren und Ihre Antworten korrekt festhalten kann. [Die
Aufnahme / Das Transkript] verwenden wir nur für dieses
Auswahlverfahren und löschen es spätestens [Frist] nach dessen
Abschluss. Sind Sie damit einverstanden? Sie können auch ablehnen
oder jederzeit eine Pause verlangen; das hat keinen Einfluss auf
Ihre Bewerbung.

Avant de commencer : j'aimerais [enregistrer / transcrire avec un
logiciel] notre entretien, afin de pouvoir me concentrer sur vous et
noter fidèlement vos réponses. [L'enregistrement / La transcription]
servira uniquement à cette procédure de sélection et sera supprimé(e)
au plus tard [délai] après sa clôture. Êtes-vous d'accord ? Vous
pouvez refuser ou demander une pause à tout moment, sans conséquence
sur votre candidature.

(Before we start: I'd like to [record / transcribe with software] our
conversation so I can focus on you and capture your answers accurately.
We use the [recording / transcript] only for this selection process and
delete it no later than [period] after it ends. Do you agree? You can
say no or ask to pause at any time; it won't affect your application.)

Put the same information in the interview invitation, as Article 19 FADP requires it at collection. More wording options are in our interview recording consent script.

Checklist before you record interviews in Switzerland

• Candidate's consent obtained before recording or live transcription starts, after explaining the recording and its purpose.
• A real alternative offered, such as handwritten notes, with no consequence for refusing or pausing.
• Invitation and privacy notice cover the purpose, recipients, any foreign disclosure and the deletion date (Article 19 FADP).
• Only what bears on suitability for the job is recorded or kept (Article 328b CO).
• Recordings not used to monitor interviewers (Article 26 ArGV 3).
• Agency recordings shared with clients only with the candidate's express consent (AVG).
• Rejected candidates' recordings and transcripts deleted on a short, documented schedule.

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