How Regional State Administrative Agencies process personal data in continuing education and other information-based guidance

The Division of Education and Culture in the Regional State Administrative Agencies is responsible for information guidance in their field, among other tasks. We provide information-based guidance for the personnel of the sectors that we represent as follows: 

• continuing education 
• networked activities 
• newsletters 
• other communications in the sector.

We must collect personal data so that we can carry out the above tasks. We collect information from the data subjects and from publicly available sources. Some or all of the following data may be processed: 

• first and last name 
• place of work or organisation and its unit  
• level of education or sector 
• professional group 
• job title  
• business or official telephone number 
• email address  
• municipality of work 
• special dietary request. 

We may ask for special dietary restrictions when you register for an event that includes catering for participants. You do not need to justify your dietary restrictions or provide information about your health. We will process and store your information only for the time necessary to arrange the event.

We use participants' email addresses for educational communications and for collecting feedback. The responses given by participants on the feedback form are anonymous and cannot be connected to an individual respondent.

Regional State Administrative Agencies collect the personal data for subscriptions to newsletters and/or continuing education information on the basis of consent. 

For other tasks, the processing is legally based on Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU (GDPR) and section 4(1)(2) of the Data Protection Act (1050/2018), which states that personal data may be processed if the processing is proportionate and necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest by an authority. We do not need your consent to this processing.

In information-based guidance, we will retain your data as long as it is needed. Your data will only be retained to the extent necessary for our operations. We will end the processing of your data when it is no longer necessary to process the data for this purpose or when we are notified that the grounds for processing the data are no longer valid. 

We will retain the personal data that you have given for subscriptions to newsletters and/or continuing education information as long as your subscription is in effect. You can cancel your data processing approval at any time by ending the subscription to the newsletter and/or continuing education information. In such cases, your data will be removed from the corresponding address list.

Principles of data protection 

We can produce manual material such as lists of participants when organising training sessions. We process and store manual material in accordance with the instructions concerning the processing of manual data from Regional State Administrative Agencies.

The electronically processed data in the register has been protected from inappropriate viewing, modification and destruction. The protection is based on user authorisation management, the technical protection of databases and servers, the physical protection of facilities, access control, the protection of data communication and the backup of data. The right to access and process data is granted based on tasks. Access to the systems is based on personal usernames. We use administrative controls to monitor the appropriateness of our activities.

Regular disclosures of data 

We may disclose your information to other Regional State Administrative Agencies if this is necessary for cooperation. 

We may disclose your information to external service providers and their subcontractors or other external partners that process the collected personal data on behalf of Regional State Administrative Agencies. We have agreed with our service providers that they will process personal data in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation. 

We may use external service providers for such purposes as collecting registrations and feedback, sending newsletters and acting as system suppliers for online learning environments. We may use external service providers if this is a prerequisite for organising physical events. We may also organise events in cooperation with other authorities or organisations, and in such cases, we may disclose information to the extent necessary for the cooperation.

We may also be obliged to disclose information under the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999). 

Data disclosure outside of the EU or the EEA

Data stored in the register is not disclosed regularly outside the EU/EEA.

Automatic processing and profiling of data

Data stored in the register are not subject to automatic processing or profiling.

You have the right to know what personal data we process about you and request a machine-language copy. You also have the right to have your inaccurate information corrected, supplement your personal data and ask us to delete or restrict your personal data. 

Please note that deleting or limiting your use of personal data may cause us to not be able to send you newsletters or information about continuing trainings.

Right to be informed of the processing of personal data

You have the right to know what we use your information for and how.

The aim of this notification is to give you an overall idea of the processing of personal data that is the subject of this notification at the Regional State Administrative Agency. If you feel that this notification does not give you the overall idea we are aiming to provide, we have failed in our goal. In this case and whenever you have questions about the processing of personal data by Regional State Administrative Agencies, you can contact the Data Protection Officer for the Regional State Administrative Agencies (see contact details below).

Right to access to your personal data

You can request and receive a copy the your personal data that we have in our register by sending a signed information request form by letter or email to the Regional State Administrative Agency's registry. We will implement your request unless we have a legitimate reason to refuse realising your rights.

Form: Request to access personal data

Send a written request to the Regional State Administrative Agency’s registry.

Right to request that inaccuracies be corrected and missing information be added

If you notice any omissions or inaccuracies in your personal data, you have the right to request that we update these. In such a case, we ask that you indicate which information is incorrect and how the information should be changed or which information should be supplemented and how.

Request for the correction of inaccurate personal data and to restrict the use of personal data.

Send a written request to the Regional State Administrative Agency’s registry. 

Withdrawal of consent 

You can withdraw your consent to subscribing to newsletters and/or continuing education information at any time. You can withdraw your consent with the function at the end of the message. You can also contact Regional State Administrative Agencies to withdraw your consent. The contact details are given below. 

Restricting the use of your information

If you believe that the information we are processing that concerns you is incorrect, that it is being processed unlawfully, or you oppose the processing of your information, you may ask us to restrict the processing of your information.

Form: Request for the correction of inaccurate personal data and to restrict the use of personal data

In that case, we can only process your data

• with your consent
• if we need the data for the purpose of establishing, submitting or defending a legal claim
• in the public interest
• to protect the rights of another person.

If we limit the processing of your data on the basis of your request, we are obligated, as far as possible, to notify all those to whom the data was previously disclosed.

Send a written data restriction request to the Regional State Administrative Agency’s registry.

Right to object to the processing of personal data

You have the right to object to us processing your personal data. You can do so at any time giving reasons related to your specific personal situation. In that case, we will no longer be allowed to process your personal data unless there is a significant and substantiated reason that supersedes your interests, rights and freedoms, or if the processing of the data is necessary to establish, present or defend a legal claim. Send your written and justified request to the Regional State Administrative Agency's registry.

If you believe that your personal data has been processed in a manner that is violated to the law, you can file a complaint or complain to the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman about the processing of your data. However, we recommend that you first contact the Regional State Administrative Agencies' Data Protection Officer (see contact details below).

Contact information for the Data Protection Officer and further information on data protection

Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman

Each Regional State Administrative Agency is competent to carry out its tasks in a certain geographical area in Finland, unless the national management of a matter has been centralised to a specific Regional State Administrative Agency. Therefore, one of the six Regional State Administrative Agencies will usually act as the controller for the processing of personal data in accordance with this notification, depending on where in Finland you live and which Regional State Administrative Agency has processed your matter.

In accordance with this notification the controllers are the Regional State Administrative Agencies; their national domains and contact information are the following:

Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland
Area of jurisdiction: regions of Uusimaa, Kanta-Häme, Päijät-Häme, Kymenlaakso, South Karelia, Southwest Finland and Satakunta
Visiting address: Wähäjärvenkatu 6, Hämeenlinna
Postal address: P.O. Box 1, 13035 AVI, Finland
Telephone: +358 295 016 000
Registry: kirjaamo.etela(at)avi.fi

Regional State Administrative Agency for Eastern Finland
Area of jurisdiction: regions of South Savo, North Savo and North Karelia
Visiting address: Raatihuoneenkatu 5, Mikkeli
Postal address: P.O. Box 2, 13035 AVI, Finland
Telephone: +358 295 016 000
Registry: kirjaamo.ita(at)avi.fi

Regional State Administrative Agency for Lapland
Area of jurisdiction: region of Lapland
Visiting address: Valtakatu 2, Rovaniemi
Postal address: P.O. Box 3, 13035 AVI, Finland
Telephone: +358 295 016 000
Registry: kirjaamo.lappi(at)avi.fi

Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland
Area of jurisdiction: regions of Southwest Finland and Satakunta
Visiting address: Itsenäisyydenaukio 2, Turku
Postal address: P.O. Box 4, 13035 AVI, Finland
Telephone: +358 295 016 000
Registry: kirjaamo.lounais(at)avi.fi

Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and inland Finland
Area of jurisdiction: regions of Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, South Ostrobothnia, Ostrobothnia and Central Ostrobothnia
Visiting address: Wolffintie 35, Vaasa
Postal address: P.O. Box 5, 13035 AVI, Finland
Telephone: +358 295 016 000
Registry: kirjaamo.lansi(at)avi.fi

Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland
Area of Jurisdiction: regions of North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and Lapland
Visiting address: Linnankatu 3, Oulu
Postal address: P.O. Box 6, 13035 AVI, Finland
Telephone: +358 295 016 000
Registry: kirjaamo.pohjois(at)avi.fi