Act on Cantonal Public Statistics (LStat) - Purpose (GStat)

1. The purpose of this law is

a) to define the tasks of cantonal public statistics;

b) to provide the canton with the statistical tools and resources it needs to fulfill its tasks;

c) to establish the statistical principles for data acquisition, development, production, and dissemination;

d) to ensure access to available statistical information;

e) to define the organization and responsibilities of cantonal public statistics coherently and efficiently;

f) to promote cooperation with the Confederation, the cantons, municipalities, and internal or external cantonal bodies in the field of public statistics;

g) to ensure statistical confidentiality and data protection in the field of public statistics.

1. This law applies to all activities of the cantonal public statistics established by the State Council, which are entrusted to

a) Actors of the cantonal public statistics system as defined in Article 4, paragraph 1, letter e;

b) Other administrative units or producers of the cantonal public statistics;

c) Third parties commissioned by the canton.

2. Statistical services provided by actors of the cantonal public statistics system on behalf of third parties are also subject to this law.

3. The State Council may declare this law wholly or partially applicable to other authorities, public corporations, as well as legal or natural persons if they

a) Are subject to the supervision of the canton, or

b) Receive subsidies from the canton, or

c) Exercise an activity based on a concession or authorization from the canton.

1. Cantonal Statistics is a public service providing authorities and the general public with relevant, meaningful, reliable, coherent, and up-to-date statistical information based on independently chosen scientific criteria.

2. Statistical information includes, in particular, information about the population, economy, social life, environment, and land use. It serves, in particular

a) to understand and analyze collective phenomena and their development in the aforementioned areas;

b) to prepare, guide, support, and review the activities of cantonal authorities;

c) to meet the informational needs of public entities, the scientific community, the economy, social partners, various interest groups, and the media;

d) to support research projects of general interest.

3. In its statistical activities, the canton collaborates with the Confederation, other cantons, municipalities, regional and international bodies, the private sector, social partners, and the scientific community, including universities and universities of applied sciences in the field of research and development.

**1. In this Act, the following terms mean:**

a) **Statistics:** Information of a quantitative, aggregated, and representative nature characterizing a collective phenomenon within a considered population.

b) **Public Statistics Activity:** All the steps required for the public provision of statistical results, carried out under the responsibility of a producer within the public statistics system, and related to the collection, development, production, and dissemination of statistics, as well as the organization and deployment of the resources necessary for their execution.

c) **Statistical Survey:** Data collection from respondents for purely statistical purposes, either by using and analyzing data provided by administrative or private actors (administrative data processing) or through ad-hoc surveys (statistical surveys).

d) **Public Statistical Results:** Statistical information in the form of aggregated figures, comments, or analyses that are prepared and disseminated by the official statistical system in full compliance with the statistical principles and rules established by law.

e) **Producer of Cantonal Public Statistics:** A department of the cantonal administration or a public entity responsible for the development, production, and regular dissemination of the results of public statistics.

f) **Cantonal Public Statistics System:** All producers of cantonal public statistics operating in the canton of Wallis under the supervision of the office responsible for statistics.

g) **Development:** Activities aimed at defining, consolidating, and improving the statistical methods, standards, and processes used for the creation and dissemination of statistics, as well as developing new statistics and indicators.

h) **Holder of an Administrative Dataset:** A department of the cantonal administration, municipality, or public entity that is not part of the cantonal public statistics system but collects, maintains, and processes data.

1. For activities in the field of public statistics, the following principles of development, collection, production, and dissemination apply

a) Statistical Confidentiality: Data collected for statistical purposes must be treated confidentially and may not be used for other purposes; all persons involved in statistical work must keep confidential facts relating to natural or legal persons that they become aware of in the course of their activities; public statistics producers are prohibited from sharing available individual data or results with another person that would allow information about the individual situation of the relevant natural or legal persons to be identified or inferred, unless the person concerned has published this information.

b) Professional Independence: Activities in the field of public statistics are entirely professionally independent regarding the choice of their sources, definitions, and methods, as well as the selection of data carriers, content, and timing of dissemination. They are particularly independent from political influence or the influence of any interest groups.

c) Objectivity: Statistics are developed, compiled, and disseminated systematically, reliably, and impartially, based on robust and recognized methodological foundations, following transparent procedures, and applying ethical standards and best professional practices.

d) Impartiality: Statistical results are disseminated in a neutral manner, without any recommendations of any kind, and with equal treatment of all users.

e) Reliability: Statistical results must measure the reality they aim to represent as faithfully, accurately, and coherently as possible, with sources, methods, and processes selected according to scientific criteria.

f) Proportionality and Optimization of Cost Burden: Producers of cantonal public statistics conduct surveys only when administrative data is lacking, insufficient, or of inadequate quality, or at the request of a superior authority.

g) Statistical Quality: To ensure the quality of results, producers of cantonal public statistics apply uniform standards and harmonized methods and adhere to the following quality criteria: relevance, accuracy, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence.

1. Insofar as the canton already possesses the necessary data or can obtain it from the municipalities or public-law corporations and institutions, additional data collection will be forgone.

2. If the data is insufficient or inadequate, or if inter-cantonal comparisons need to be made, the federal statistical data should primarily be regionalized.

3. If such regionalization is not feasible, statistical surveys may be conducted by questioning natural and legal persons. The number of respondents and the resulting burden on them should be kept as low as possible.

1. The authorities responsible for the execution of duties in the area of cantonal public statistics are

a) the State Council;

b) the department responsible for public statistics;

c) the office responsible for statistics;

d) the other producers of cantonal public statistics.

2. The various authorities must respect the independence of the office responsible for statistics in the fulfillment of their duties and obligations, in accordance with Article 5, Paragraph 1, Letter b.

1. The State Council is responsible for

a) designating the department responsible for the cantonal public statistics;

b) the cantonal office responsible for statistics (hereinafter: office), which is directly affiliated with the competent department;

c) approving the multi-year program for cantonal public statistics;

d) deciding on the canton’s participation in the regionalization of federal statistical data and the conduct of statistical surveys;

e) deciding on participation in international surveys.

2. The State Council may delegate these competencies to the department responsible for public statistics.

1. The department responsible for cantonal public statistics holds all powers conferred upon it by legislation and the State Council, or those not expressly reserved for another authority.

2. Every 4 years, it commissions an external audit report on the activities of the cantonal public statistics.

1. The office is responsible for the cantonal system of public statistics. It is the central statistical authority and the main producer of cantonal public statistics.

2. The office is particularly responsible for

a) the general coordination of the cantonal system of public statistics and its representation towards the federal government and regional and international statistical bodies;

b) the preparation and updating of the multi-year program of cantonal statistics;

c) the execution of statistical evaluations of administrative data and datasets;

d) the use of reference databases for statistical purposes in accordance with the law on reference databases and the harmonization of the personal register, business and enterprise register, and building and housing register (GRDB);

e) the linking of data, provided that this linking is immediately followed by anonymization or pseudonymization if longitudinal comparisons require it;

f) the conduct of major statistical surveys in the canton;

g) the management, storage, and documentation of cantonal statistical information as well as its dissemination;

h) ensuring a constructive collaboration with the main partners of cantonal statistics and their users;

i) fulfilling the duties of the statistical coordinator for the cantonal reference databases in terms of the GRDB;

j) ensuring that other producers of public statistics also apply the statistical principles and rules.

3. To fulfill its coordination role, the office may, after consultation, issue standards and regulations to other producers of cantonal public statistics, which are necessary to comply with the statistical principles and rules set out in the present law as well as for the coordinated and rational management of the activities of the cantonal public statistics system.

4. The office is technically independent in fulfilling its tasks, particularly from political authorities and interest groups. To ensure this, it is organized as an administratively independent specialized office.

5. The State Council regulates the details.

1. Other producers of cantonal public statistics, alongside the office, are departments of the cantonal administration or public entities responsible for the development, creation, and regular dissemination of public statistics results.

2. They use, for statistical purposes, only administrative data and datasets, as well as those federal statistical data that fall within their jurisdiction.

3. The producers of public statistics must, as far as possible, form a specialized unit separate from the administrative department to which they belong to ensure the strict adherence to professional independence and statistical principles.

4. The State Council regulates the details.

1. The Multi-Year Program defines the framework for cantonal statistics and serves as the coordination, planning, and information instrument for data providers and users.

2. The Multi-Year Program is generally prepared every 4 years. It can be adjusted annually or biennially as needed or due to new projects.

3. Specifically, the Multi-Year Program determines the priorities for information needs based on available resources and specifies

a) the main projects to be conducted;

b) the surveys that are to be regionalized or conducted;

c) the tasks undertaken by various producers of public statistics and the development of the range of statistical results.

4. After approval by the Council of State, the Multi-Year Program is published.

1. The Office and Other Producers of Public Statistics in the Canton

a) participate in the Swiss statistical system within the framework of partnerships;

b) carry out the statistical activities assigned to them within the Swiss statistical system.

2. The Office actively participates in the consultation and decision-making processes within the Swiss statistical system within the scope of its responsibilities.

3. The Office ensures the necessary cooperation with other cantonal or foreign statistical services of the European statistical system.

1. The office must be consulted in advance when drafting legal provisions that involve the collection or processing of statistical data.

2. To facilitate the statistical use of administrative data, the office must be consulted on all projects related to the creation or redesign of information systems, databases, directories, or other electronic data records.

3. The office advises the departments of the cantonal administration and provides them with the necessary statistical results while strictly maintaining statistical confidentiality. It ensures that training sessions on the standard statistical software of the cantonal administration are conducted.

4. In matters of statistical research and education, the office collaborates with other departments of the cantonal administration, universities, universities of applied sciences, the federal government, other cantons, and research organizations.

1. For every statistical survey, the legal basis, purpose, categories of the individuals or entities surveyed, the responsible authority, and, if applicable, other involved agencies must be specified.

2. Participation of natural or legal persons in statistical surveys is fundamentally voluntary. In exceptional cases, the State Council may subject natural or legal persons and their representatives to the obligation to provide information if the representativeness and comparability of results or the deadlines for obtaining them so require, and if no other overriding public or private interest opposes this.

3. Participation of natural or legal persons and institutions with public-law tasks in statistical surveys is mandatory.

4. Cantonal statistical surveys only cover matters that do not fall within the private sphere of the surveyed individuals or entities.

5. When justified by public interest and after consultation with the Data Protection and Public Access Ombudsman, the State Council may exceptionally deviate from the principle of paragraph 4 in a specific case.

6. Surveys are conducted in a manner that causes the least possible inconvenience to those obligated to participate.

7. Anyone providing information for a survey must do so accurately, truthfully, within the set timeframe, in the required format, and free of charge.

8. The departments of cantonal administration, the municipalities of Valais, public-law institutions or corporations of the Canton of Valais, as well as private entities controlled or subsidized by the public bodies of the Canton of Valais, or those engaging in activities based on a concession or permit from the Canton, are obligated to provide the data requested by the statistical office for statistical purposes.

9. To facilitate data linkage, the necessary identifiers, particularly the AHV number, must be provided to the office along with the data.

1. Producers of cantonal public statistics may perform temporary tasks for third parties, such as consulting, analysis, research related to cantonal statistics, and additional processing, or with the consent of the department, include additional questions in statistical surveys, provided that the third parties concerned cover the incurred costs or provide the necessary personnel.

2. These tasks are subject to the principles and rules established in Article 5, and the producer ensures the publication of the resulting statistical outcomes.

1. Public authorities that are not part of the public statistical system may use the data in their possession for statistical purposes for their own use and, provided they inform the department in advance, conduct statistical surveys.

2. The State Council establishes the necessary notification period that these authorities must comply with, as well as the type and scope of surveys subject to this notification requirement.

1. Individual data collected or disclosed for statistical purposes may not be used for other purposes, except where legislation explicitly allows for an alternative use or the individual concerned provides prior written consent to such use.

2. Persons entrusted with statistical work must keep confidential all data regarding natural and legal persons, which they become aware of in the course of their work. This obligation also applies to persons who are involved in surveys or receive data.

3. Individual data must be protected against misuse through appropriate technical and organizational measures. In particular, the data must be stored in such a way that unauthorized persons cannot access, alter, or destroy them.

4. Name and address lists created for data collection or its coordination, as well as survey documents containing the names of respondents, are to be protected and destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed for the specified purposes. The provisions of the GRDB remain reserved.

5. Identifiers assigned to individual data are to be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed for statistical processing or data linking; in doing so, the individual data are anonymized.

6. Individual data retained for statistical purposes may be transmitted among the producers of cantonal public statistics exclusively for statistical purposes and only insofar as the transmitted data are directly related to the recipient's assignments.

7. Individual data retained for statistical purposes may be shared by the producers of cantonal public statistics with other producers of Swiss public statistics, provided the following conditions are cumulatively met

a) The data sharing is necessary for the effective development, production, and dissemination of the relevant public statistical system;

b) The producer of the public statistical system receiving the data adheres to the principles and working rules set out in Article 5 of this Act.

8. Natural or legal persons under private law cannot claim a right to information, modification, or deletion of personal data concerning them stored for statistical purposes, as the data are anonymized.

1. The Office and the other producers of cantonal public statistics are authorized to use the insurance number in accordance with the Federal Act on Old-Age and Survivors Insurance to fulfill their statistical tasks.

1. Anonymous individual data of persons may exclusively be transmitted by the producers of public statistics to research or study institutions, or to foreign producers of public statistics, who utilize them for scientific, study-related, planning, or statistical purposes.

2. The recipients shall commit in writing beforehand to adhere to the cantonal regulations regarding statistical secrecy and to not disclose these data to third parties under any circumstances. They shall be informed about the provisions of the GIDA, which shall otherwise apply.

3. The requested producers shall inform the service in advance.

4. The service may, if necessary, consult the cantonal data protection and public information officer. The provisions of the GIDA shall remain reserved.

1. Statistical results, as well as documentation on the sources and methods used to obtain them, are made available to the public in a form that is adapted to the needs of various users. The main results are published, with references to the presence of supplementary results, in accordance with the principles established in Article 5. Access to these results is ensured.

2. The results of public statistics are generally disseminated according to a pre-determined schedule and ensuring equal and simultaneous access opportunities for all users. Producers of public statistics also ensure that they meet the quality criteria established in Article 5.

3. The published statistical results must preserve statistical confidentiality as defined in Article 5, unless the processed data have been published due to a legal provision or by the directly affected individuals, or the affected individuals have expressly consented to it.

4. The provisions regarding statistical confidentiality do not apply to the transmission of statistical results to public authorities, bodies, and other public law institutions.

5. The department maintains and provides an information system that contains all the results of the cantonal public statistics, indicating the sources and methods used.

6. The use or reproduction of statistical results that are published or distributed in various forms is free of charge, provided that the origin and source are indicated.

1. Statistical individual data may be disseminated by a public statistics producer in the form of public use datasets, which consist of anonymized data sets, presented in such a way that direct or indirect identification of individuals is excluded, taking into account all appropriate means that could reasonably be used by a third party.

1. The Council of State regulates the fees for services and the publications of the office and other producers of public statistics in a regulation.

1. Whoever violates this law or its implementing provisions shall be punished with an administrative fine of up to 10,000 Swiss Francs.

2. The department entrusted with cantonal public statistics has exclusive jurisdiction to impose the administrative fines provided for in paragraph 1.

3. In the event of a violation of the obligation to provide information, the fine can only be imposed on the offender after they have been duly informed by registered letter of the consequences of their refusal and have nevertheless failed to comply.

1. Whoever intentionally or negligently breaches the provisions regarding data protection or official secrecy by disclosing confidential data or using it for non-statistical purposes shall be punished with imprisonment or a fine.

2. Independently of the fine stipulated in Article 24, all employees of the Canton of Valais who violate statistical secrecy may be subject to the measures provided in the Law on Personnel of the State of Valais. Furthermore, the penalties provided by Article 320 of the Criminal Code remain reserved.