Processing of personal data when using electronic services in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or in Finnish missions abroad

We receive letters, emails, inquiries, feedback and information requests that private individuals, representatives of interest groups, and journalists send to ministers and ministries. All letters from citizens and other calls and comments containing contact information are registered in the case management system.

We have electronic forms on our website and online services that enable you to initiate matters within our competence, such as reporting suspicions of misuse of development cooperation, making a request for personal documents, and exercising your rights as a data subject under the General Data Protection Regulation. It is also possible to initiate proceedings by sending an email to our registry.

You can also use our website to order travel information about a specific country and to notify matkustusilmoitus.fi of a trip or a new permanent residence abroad (see Travel and consular services for more information). 

You will also have the opportunity to comment on our blog texts and respond to our tweets or Facebook and Instagram updates. In such cases, we will not store the personal data that you have left in our case management system; it can only be seen in that service.

The personal data we store depends on the service you use and/or what information you have provided us with, for example, when you contacted us.

Visit to our website

Our website is open to everyone, and browsing it does not require registration. We do not directly collect data that would make it possible to identify individual visitors. In some cases, however, an IP address can be considered personal data.

In addition to the IP address, general statistical information on the use of sites is collected to improve the services provided on our website. The data collected includes details of the pages viewed, time of visit, web browser and operating system.

Third-party applications, such as social media feeds, videos or podcasts are embedded into some pages of a website. These applications use cookies that transmit data to third parties about the pages viewed. 

Why we process your data

We process your personal data in order to carry out the statutory duties pertaining to the Foreign Service and to carry out tasks in the public interest. The data is processed according to Article 6, paragraph 1, points c and e of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
 
Provisions on the tasks of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Finland's missions abroad are laid down, for example in: 

  1. The Act on the Foreign Service
  2. The Government Decree on the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
  3. The Act on the Openness of Government Activities
  4. The Decree on the Openness of Government Activities and Good Data Management Practices
  5. The Administrative Act
  6. The Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector

Transfer of personal data

As a rule, we do not disclose personal data, and we do not disclose it to countries outside the European Union or the European Economic Area. 

However, we disclose personal data, upon request, in accordance with the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. Data and documents are public, unless special provisions on their secrecy have been laid down by law. 

We do not disclose personal data for purposes such as direct marketing, market surveys and opinion polls.

Your rights

Remember that under the GDPR you also have rights relating to the processing of your personal data. More information about your right to data protection is available here.

For more information

If you have any questions concerning the processing of your personal data in the Foreign Service, contact the Ministry’s Data Protection Officer by email at tietosuoja(at)formin.fi