Are you still around?
There are friends we lose touch with, cousins we forget, neighbours who mysteriously disappear off our radar... And sometimes we wonder if he or she still lives nearby or is still with us? It's not that we necessarily want to inherit or send flowers, but human curiosity sometimes needs an official answer. So who can enlighten us?
A loyal reader, Geneva
In Geneva, the authorities can indeed provide such information, but they do not distribute it indiscriminately. The logic is simple: confirming a death does not have the same scope as revealing where someone lives today, and the law therefore treats these two requests with a different degree of caution.
To find out whether a person has died, the Cantonal Office for Population and Migration (OCPM) is authorised to provide information to the public, against payment of a fee, in particular on the date and place of death of a registered person. There is a lengthy regulation on this subject relating to the issue of information and documents, and the collection of various fees, by the cantonal population and migration office and the municipalities (RDROCPMC!). In other words, if the person has been registered in the canton, you can obtain official information without having to prove that you are their childhood friend or regimental comrade.
It is also possible to trace a person's current address in Geneva, but this is subject to certain restrictions. The OCPM can communicate the current address within Geneva, again for a fee. This does not mean, however, that anyone can track anyone. On the one hand, a person can request that their address not be made available to the public if they have a valid reason. On the other hand, the law on public information, access to documents and the protection of personal data (LIPAD) and the RDROCPMC require that, when personal data is transmitted to a private individual, there must be a legal basis for doing so or a private interest worthy of protection that justifies it, without there being any overriding interest on the part of the person concerned.
And if the person has left Geneva, things get even more complicated. To obtain an address or a place of destination and a date of departure after moving outside the canton, you need to demonstrate a legitimate private interest. This is typically the case if you need to assert a right, such as a claim, a procedure or an inheritance issue. On the other hand, a simple “I wonder what happened to her” is likely to come up against the very Swiss wall of proportionality.
In your situation, if the aim is to find out whether the person is still alive, the request for information on a death is generally the most accessible. If the aim is to find an address, this may work if the person still lives in Geneva and has not made their address non-disclosable. However, if the person has moved or if the request becomes more intrusive, you will have to show your credentials.
You can ask the authorities if someone is still alive and, sometimes, where they live, but the civil registry and the OCPM are not a locating service for late-night reunions. Respect for privacy is a cardinal value in Switzerland...
