Data protection

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency offers electronic services for easy use. You can check the data kept on you in the Population Information System using the Check Your Registered Data service and the Suomi.fi service. In the Check Your Registered Data service (only in Finnish and Swedish), you can declare or change the following information:

• native language and service language (when the native language is other than Finnish or Swedish)
• occupation
• preferred given name
• email address
• prohibitions on the disclosure of information (excluding non-disclosure for personal safety reasons)
• leaving a religious community

Other changes to Population Information System data are made by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. As a rule, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will not correct or change address information that is over four years old or supplement any family relationship data that was excluded from the register at the beginning of the 1970s.

You can also check the information by visiting a Digital and Population Data Services Agency service location in person or requesting the inspection in writing on a form. Please see the contact information for the service locations.

For data other than those in the Population Information System, the request for verification of the data must be sent to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. In order to speed up the processing of a request for information, it is a good idea to state which information the request concerns.

The request for information must be signed (PDF version attached to the email) to identify the person making the request. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency may also request more detailed information to identify the person. Personal services are primarily provided at Digital and Population Data Services Agency service locations.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency collects different types of information for different services and other tasks. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency primarily receives information from other authorities. The Population Information System also contains information declared by individuals themselves. More details regarding information sources can be found on each service’s own data protection webpage. 

In addition to the information declared by applicants themselves, background information required in applying for and processing certificates is obtained from the Population Information Register and from sector-specific registers, such as the Trade Register or the data registers of social services and healthcare authorities.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency discloses personal data from the Population Information System, Suomi.fi services, certificate services and other registers to other organisations under special legislation. More details on released data can be found on the data protection webpage for each service. 

Data is released from the Population Information System in compliance with the law to support society’s functions and information management. Data is released from the Population Information System for such purposes as the discharge of official duties or other statutory tasks, scientific research and the management of client accounts and marketing.

The release of data from the Population Information System benefits both the public and private sector. The Population Information System enhances the efficiency of public sector work, as the authorities do not have to collect and maintain basic demographic data themselves. In the private sector, the customer registers of companies can be kept up-to-date and their marketing can be geared toward suitable target groups.

The civil servants of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency only have very limited access to your personal data. The processing procedure must always be justified by the official tasks concerned, i.e. personal data is only processed if it relates to a task being performed at that time.

You can refuse to allow the release of your data using the Check Your Registered Data service (in Finnish and Swedish). You may not refuse the release of your information to a specific company or organisation. 

With Suomi.fi services, you are not entitled to refuse to allow the processing of your data or its release to organisations that use the Suomi.fi services. Suomi.fi e-identification and Suomi.fi Messages can be used in managing public administration tasks that are performed by organisations in or linked to the public sector. Read more on the release of data on the Suomi.fi service data protection data protection webpage. 

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency takes the protection of personal data into consideration when developing its services. The basic assumption is that there should be minimal processing of personal data and that the data should be secured whenever it is transferred or stored. The technical options for securing data include encryption, restricted access and technical supervision. The services and information provided by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency are located in safe environments audited by the authorities.

Access to data is only granted to individuals who are entitled to process it due to the nature of their work. In addition, the services of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency require the organisations using them to process personal data securely and, for example, encrypt the transmission of data when processing personal data.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency pays particular attention to the implementation of data protection in services during their planning and development phase. Risk assessment involving the processing and transfer of personal data as part of the planning process is a key measure in the implementation of the application itself.  

Information security testing and the risk assessment of the application are undertaken throughout the development process. The staff involved in service development at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency are given training in the principles and guidelines of secure software development.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency processes personal data for the purpose of carrying out statutory tasks.  It is for this reason that no requests to delete or move data from statutory registers maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency are allowed.