Is cold email legal in Switzerland? B2B rules for 2026

Not for automated sequences: Switzerland's Unfair Competition Act (UWG, art. 3(1)(o)) requires prior consent for "mass advertising" sent by telecommunication, and the preparatory works define that as all automated advertising, email included. The law protects customers at every level of trade, so the rule is the same for an info@ address, a named employee and a sole trader. Whether one manually written email counts as mass advertising is unclear, and we found no Swiss guidance on LinkedIn messages.

Checked on 15 October 2026 against the law text and the regulator's guidance. This is not legal advice.

Switzerland does not implement the EU's ePrivacy Directive, and no authority fines senders: enforcement runs through criminal complaints and civil claims. Like Germany, it has no blanket exception for business recipients. For EU countries, see cold email laws by country.

At a glance

What does Swiss law say?

Art. 3(1)(o) UWG, in force since 1 April 2007:

"1 Unlauter handelt insbesondere, wer: [...] o. Massenwerbung ohne direkten Zusammenhang mit einem angeforderten Inhalt fernmeldetechnisch sendet oder solche Sendungen veranlasst und es dabei unterlässt, vorher die Einwilligung der Kunden einzuholen, den korrekten Absender anzugeben oder auf eine problemlose und kostenlose Ablehnungsmöglichkeit hinzuweisen;"

The official English translation, which has no legal force: a person acts unfairly if they "send or arrange to be sent mass advertising without direct connection with any requested content by telecommunication and in doing so fail to obtain the prior consent of the customer, or to indicate the correct sender or a simple and free of charge option of refusal" (Fedlex).

Everything turns on "Massenwerbung". The government's 2003 dispatch says the term covers "alle Arten der automatisierten Werbung (automatisierte Anrufe, Fax, SMS, E-Mail usw.)", all kinds of automated advertising (automated calls, fax, SMS, email, etc.), but not advertising that "einen menschlichen Aufwand erfordert", that requires human effort, such as sales calls (BBl 2003 7951, p. 7991).

What do the authorities say?

Three federal bodies describe the rule, not quite in the same way:

• SECO, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, says the UWG protects "Kunden sämtlicher Handelsstufen", customers at every level of trade (SECO).
• The FDPIC (EDÖB), the data protection commissioner, states it without the mass condition: "Advertising by e-mail is possible provided that people have explicitly given their consent (opt-in)" (FDPIC). On the customer exception, its German page adds: "Es genügt nicht, lediglich ein Onlinekonto eröffnet zu haben", opening an online account is not enough (FDPIC).
• OFCOM (BAKOM) ties consent to automatic mass sending (OFCOM, 2 July 2021).

Company, employee or sole trader?

The UWG protects "Kunden" and does not separate companies, employees and sole traders. The difference is data protection: the DSG covers only natural persons, so a named employee's address falls under it and a pure company address does not.

The courts have not settled whether a one-to-one email is mass advertising. In 2018 the Zurich High Court looked at three emails from a Peruvian law firm to two lawyers at a Swiss firm. Whether the prosecutor was right to deny "Massenwerbung" because of the number of emails "kann offen bleiben", can be left open, the court said, finding no breach for other reasons: the emails were targeted and factual, named the correct sender and had an unsubscribe link (OG Zürich, UE170371). The Federal Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal (6B_468/2018).

Our reading: an email sequence sent from a tool is automated and needs consent; for a single email written by hand, the law is open.

Can you send LinkedIn messages to Swiss prospects?

No guidance found on SECO's, the FDPIC's or OFCOM's pages, and our search for court decisions was not complete. Our own reading, not guidance: art. 3(1)(o) covers anything sent "fernmeldetechnisch", and the dispatch's list ends with "usw.", so automated mass messages on LinkedIn may be covered.

Data protection: the DSG, not GDPR

The FDPIC says: "The GDPR does not apply directly in Switzerland" (FDPIC FAQ). The Data Protection Act (DSG) applies instead, also to conduct abroad with effects in Switzerland. It needs no legal basis in advance, but processing data against someone's express wishes breaches their personality rights (art. 30(2)(b)) unless justified by consent, an overriding interest or law (art. 31). Using a published address for advertising is "grundsätzlich zulässig", permissible in principle, unless the person has prohibited it, according to the FDPIC.

None of this replaces the UWG's consent rule. If your company is established in the EU, GDPR also governs your own processing, wherever the recipient is (GDPR art. 3(1)); see GDPR and B2B email under legitimate interest.

Enforcement and real cases

Intentional breaches of art. 3 are punishable on complaint by recipients, competitors or trade associations (art. 23); negligence is not punishable. SECO can step in where collective interests are affected, which "eine bestimmte Anzahl betroffener Personen voraussetzt", requires a certain number of people affected (SECO). Civil claims are possible under art. 9 and 10.

We found no verified fine for sales email. In 2016 the Zurich High Court upheld a prosecutor's refusal to investigate a mass email, citing lack of intent and minor fault and consequences (UE160194). For calls, the news agency Keystone-SDA reported on 20 November 2018 that the cantonal court of St. Gallen, on SECO's complaint, gave a managing director a suspended penalty of 10 daily rates of CHF 750 for calls to star-marked numbers, not yet final at the time (nau.ch).

Checklist: B2B email to Switzerland

1. Get prior consent before any automated sequence, to info@ addresses, named employees and sole traders alike.
2. Name the correct sender and offer a simple, free way to refuse in every message.
3. Existing customers: only contact details from a sale, only your own similar goods or services, and the option to refuse pointed out at that time.
4. Honour objections at once and keep a suppression list.
5. Before calling, check the directory for a star or a missing entry, and never hide your number.

How Leo handles Swiss leads

Revexa builds Leo, a buying-signal agent. Leo blocks only Germany automatically, so Swiss leads are not blocked. In review mode, the default, you read and approve every draft before it is sent and decide yourself, with the consent rule for automated advertising in mind. Leo writes in the lead's own language when your website exists in that language, otherwise in English.

Common questions

Is B2B cold email legal in Switzerland?

Automated cold email needs prior consent under UWG art. 3(1)(o), with no exception for business recipients. Whether a single, manually written email counts as "mass advertising" is unclear: the courts have left it open.

Does GDPR apply to cold email to Swiss companies?

Not directly. Switzerland has its own Data Protection Act (DSG), which covers natural persons. If your company is established in the EU, GDPR still applies to your own processing.

What happens if I break the Swiss rule?

Intentional breaches can be prosecuted on complaint, with a custodial sentence of up to three years or a monetary penalty. There is no administrative fine, and we found no verified fine for B2B email.

Can I cold call Swiss businesses?

In principle yes, unless the number carries a star in the directory or is not listed (our reading for business lines). Automated calls need consent, and you must show your number.