Have you been a victim of identity theft or personal data leak? The Suomi.fi Web Service now provides all the advice you need in one place

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency has launched a new information and service package in the Suomi.fi Web Service to help citizens find out what to do if they suspect that their personal data has ended up in the wrong hands.

The service also allows the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to manage key non-disclosures related to cases of data leak. These include a non-disclosure of personal information in the Population Information System and an address change protection (prevent a notification of move). Strong identification using online banking IDs, a mobile certificate, or an ID card and the Finnish Authenticator app is always needed before you can manage non-disclosures.

The service also provides guidance and instructions on how the user can manage non-disclosures that are the responsibility of other actors. These include a credit ban and a prohibition of registration to the Finnish Trade Register, the Finnish Register of Associations or the Finnish Register of Foundations. 

"Our aim has been to create a one-stop-shop where citizens can get information and guidance on managing different types of non-disclosures. When someone becomes a victim of identity theft or data leak, they end up having to deal with several different actors in order to protect the use of their personal data. We want to make things easier for people unfortunate enough to find themselves in this difficult situation and to make managing non-disclosure requests on the use of personal data easier than it currently is," says Deputy Director General Timo Salovaara from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. 

Not only for data leak victims

The widely publicised Vastaamo data leak, which led to the personal data of the company's customers being extensively leaked on the Internet, is the catalyst for the development of the information and services package. As part of further measures to address this data leak, the Finnish Government decided to create a channel to make it easier to manage bans and non-disclosures on the use of personal data. 

The new service package, therefore, serves a much broader user group than just victims of a data leak. The package also helps persons who are victims of identity theft for other reasons or who have lost their means of identification needed to prove their identity (e.g. passport or identity card) and suspect identity theft because of that. 

Extensive cooperation network

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency has planned the new information package in cooperation with public administration and private sector organisations. 

These include Finance Finland, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, the Consumers’ Union of Finland, the KyberVPK Community Cyber Response Force, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, the Finnish Patent and Registration Office, the Finnish Police Force, Posti (Finnish postal service), Victim Support Finland, Suomen Asiakastieto Oy, and the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman. 

"In order to produce content and services related to different life events, both customer consultation and cooperation across the boundaries of administrative branches are needed. That is why cooperation is extremely important when putting together content. We will, therefore, further develop the published information content based on feedback from users and partners," says Salovaara.

Visit the guide 

Visit the guide for victims of identity theft or data leak in the Suomi.fi Web Service at: https://www.suomi.fi/guides/data-leak 

Additional information

Timo Salovaara, Deputy Director General, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, tel. +358 (0)295 535 303, firstname.lastname[at]dvv.fi