BERN, SWITZERLAND – Moneyhouse.ch saw its search engine for individuals stopped Friday 20 July by the federal government after it failed to respond to a request to shut down the service. The company has, for a number of years, republished company information picked up from the official cantonal registry offices, but it recently added a search option for individuals and began to publish addresses, including information about a number of people who have specifically requested that the information be kept private.
The office of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) received a large number of complaints, which led to the demand that the company shut down the new service. When it failed to respond, the commissioner’s office turned to the Federal Adminnistrative Tribunal for permission to have it stopped, and it has ordered the company to immediately inform search engine firms to destroy the addresses in their systems.
