Data protection conditions

We use personal data for resolving queries and responding to individuals. If an inquiry requires queries to be made to other persons or authorities, only the minimum personal data necessary for preparing the response shall be disclosed to them.

If you have sent us a query that is in the remit of another institution, we will send it to the relevant authority and notify you thereof.

We may use our correspondence with you for internal use for quality assurance. We disclose statistics on and summaries of correspondence anonymously without any identifying names.

In accordance with legislation, the database of correspondence is visible in our document registry. If a letter was sent/received by an individual, we will disclose only the person’s initials in the document register, not their full name. We do this to protect your privacy, as people often write to us concerning sensitive matters. If you write us on behalf of a legal person or institution, we ask that you not use your private contact information, only your work contact information. These contact details will be public in the document register.

Correspondence with individuals has access restrictions – if anyone wishes to read correspondence and files a request for information, we will evaluate whether, depending on the document content, we can release the information in part or in full. Access restrictions depend on the content of the document. The possible grounds for access restriction can be found in Section 35 of the Public Information Act.

Access to documents is also restricted within the agency, depending on how sensitive the document content is. In this case, access is provided to official(s) who need access for the purpose of fulfilling their official functions.

Despite access restrictions, we will issue documents to institutions or persons who have a direct right under law to request the document (for example, a court of law).

By law, we are allowed to publicly disclose the circumstances of correspondence if the information concerns facts that can be expected to arouse public interest (subsection 30 (4) and 38 (1) of the Public Information Act). We exercise this right in exceptional cases and refrain from excessively infringing on the privacy of the parties involved. Among other things, we reserve the right to provide explanations to the public regarding our activities if a person publicizes information concerning themselves. We do not, however, release information to an extent greater than the person themselves disclosed.

Correspondence related to inquiries is retained pursuant to the retention terms set forth in the agency’s list of documents.