Data protection and the processing of personal data

Privacy notice

EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), Articles 13 and 14

Public employment services privacy notice (municipal employment experiment)

Joint controllers

City of Helsinki / City Board

Development and Administration Centre for ELY Centres and TE Offices (KEHA Centre)

This notice pertains to the processing of personal data by the City of Helsinki.

In accordance with Section 182 of the City Board decision on the responsibilities and tasks concerning register keeping in the City Executive Office issued on 7 March 2022, the person in charge of the register is the Director of Employment.

Why do we process your personal data?

The provision of public employment services requires the processing of your data. The payment of the unemployment benefit also requires the processing of your data, as employment service providers have duties pertaining to the unemployment benefit.

Purposes of the processing

The processing of client data and the purpose of the processing are provided for in Sections 14 and 14(a) of the Act on Municipal Experiments to Promote Employment (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Municipal Experiments Act’).

The organisation and production of tasks pursuant to the Municipal Experiments Act are subject to Section 13 of the Act on Public Employment and Business Service (hereinafter referred to also as ‘APEBS’) unless otherwise provided in the Municipal Experiments Act. In addition to Chapter 13, Section 1 of APEBS, the data of clients and public employment service providers can be used in the organisation and provision of services and tasks pursuant to the Municipal Experiments Act, as well as the supervision, development, monitoring, statistical reporting, forecasting and steering of the tasks pursuant to the Act.

Chapter 13, Section 1 of APEBS lists as purposes essential for the municipal experiment 1) the organisation and provision of services and tasks in accordance with the Act on Public Employment and Business Service; 2) the performance of tasks provided for in the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration, the Unemployment Security Act and the Act on Rehabilitative Work; and 3) the supervision, development, monitoring, statistical reporting, forecasting and steering related to the aforementioned tasks.

The City of Helsinki does not organise all of the services provided for in the above-mentioned acts as an experiment area municipality. The division of labour between the Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Office) and the experiment area municipality is determined in accordance with the Municipal Experiments Act. The public employment and business services provided by the experiment area municipality are further specified in Section 10 of the Municipal Experiments Act, tasks related to interviews and service needs assessments in Section 8, tasks related to plans in Section 9, tasks related to the promotion of integration and the activation plan in Section 12, tasks related to unemployment security and labour policy in Section 12(a), tasks related to job seeking in another country in Section 12(b), and tasks related to the conclusion and re-establishment of the client relationship in Section 6.

In accordance with Section 9(1) of the Act on Multi-sectoral Joint Services to Promote Employment (1369/2014), the municipal experiment may process data pertaining to the unemployed person in order to perform the tasks provided for in the Act.

The City also processes personal data provided in accordance with Section 14 of the Act on the Act on the Organisation of Employment Services and the Implementation of Certain Related Acts from the Employment and Economic Development Office, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, the Development and Administration Centre and the municipality taking part in the municipal experiment to promote employment in order to prepare the implementation of employment services where necessary.

Legal basis of the processing of personal data

In connection with performing tasks related to the municipal experiment, personal data will be processed based on:

• Article 6(1)(a) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation: the data subject has given consent to the processing of their personal data for one or more specific purposes. The consent is used in a manner supplementing the statutory processing of personal data in situations in which there is no statutory basis. The consent is used in situations such as those in which data is disclosed to the provider of a service supporting employment without the service having been agreed upon in the employment plan or another corresponding plan. In such a case, data necessary for the organisation of the service is disclosed to the service provider. Consent is also requested in situations pursuant to Chapter 13, Section 9 of the Act on Public Employment and Business Service when data necessary for filling a job vacancy is disclosed to an employer.
• Article 6(1)(c) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation: processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject. On this basis, all data pertaining to a personal client mentioned in the chapter ‘Which personal data do we process?’ may be processed.
• Phone conversations between the personal client and the advisory service will be recorded based on Article 6(1)(e) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation: processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Essential legislation

• EU General Data Protection Regulation (679/2016)
• Data Protection Act (1050/2018) Act on Municipal Experiments to Promote Employment (1269/2020)
• Act on Public Employment and Business Service (916/2012)
• Act on the Organisation of Employment Services (380/2023)
• Act on the Act on the Organisation of Employment Services and the Implementation of Certain Related Acts (383/2023)
• Unemployment Security Act (1290/2002)
• Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration (1386/2010)
• Act on Rehabilitative Work (189/2001)
• Act on Multisectoral Joint Services Promoting Employment (1369/2014)
• Act on the Application of European Union Legislation Concerning the Coordination of Social Security Systems (352/2010)

Which personal data do we process?

The data to be processed pertaining to personal clients and employers is determined in Chapter 13, Section 2 of the Act on Public Employment and Business Service, which is applicable to the processing of data in the municipal experiment area based on Section 14(1) of the Act on Municipal Experiments to Promote Employment.

The following data pertaining to a personal client may be processed:
1) name, personal identity code and contact details;
2) information relating to the client relationship with the Employment and Economic Development Office, using the services of the Employment and
Economic Development Office and any special arrangements required for using the services;
3) information on education and training, employment history and vocational skills and other data used in employment services;
4) information on service needs, plans and implementation of plans;
5) information on employment and training offers and presentations to potential employers;
6) information on public employment services and other employment promotion services and expert assessments;
7) any such information and assessments pertaining to health and work and functional ability that have an impact on the person’s potential employment and are necessary for providing the person with services;
8) accounts related to unemployment security and job alternation leave and labour policy statements;
9) information on benefits covered by the public employment services.

Specification information regarding the employer’s representative may be processed in the case of an employer or business applying for or receiving public employment services.

In multisectoral joint services, the following data pertaining to the unemployed person may be processed in accordance with Section 9 of the Act on Multisectoral Joint

Services Promoting Employment:
1) name, personal identity code and contact details;
2) information related to the client relationship with multisectoral joint services, using multisectoral joint services and any special arrangements required by the services;
3) information on education and training, employment history and vocational skills;
4) any information on the person’s social situation that has an impact on the person’s potential employment;
5) any such information and assessments pertaining to health and work and functional ability that have an impact on the person’s potential employment and are necessary for providing the person with services;
6) information on service needs;
7) information on the multisectoral employment plan and its realisation, monitoring and adjustments.

Additionally, phone conversations between the personal client and the advisory service will be recorded in order to verify the use of phone services and improve the quality of the services.

Non-disclosure regulations do not nullify the City’s right to receive information necessary for preparing the implementation of employment services from the Employment and Economic Development Office, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, the Development and Administration Centre and the municipality taking part in the municipal experiment regarding clients to be transferred to the employment authority. However, the City does not have the right to receive employment service client information beyond the extent required to secure the client’s service process and the continuity of services. The City may only process the aforementioned information to the extent necessary when preparing implementation.

How do we collect personal data?

Personal data is obtained for the register from the data subject themselves and accumulates in the register in various service situations, e.g. when a personal customer uses the E-services, by telephone, via secure email and in connection with service appointments.

Data can also be obtained from the personal registers of government authorities as disclosures, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, municipal authorities, the Social Insurance Institution, an unemployment fund, the Finnish Centre for Pensions, the Employment Fund, and providers of public employment and business services, as well as a provider of a work trial referred to in Chapter 4, Section 5 (Chapter 12, Section 6(1) of the Public Employment and Business Services Act).

Information related to job offers and personal recruitment solutions is obtained from employers.

To whom do we disclose your personal data?

We may provide employers with information pertaining to the jobseeker that is necessary for filling a job vacancy with the jobseeker’s written consent.

According to Chapter 13, Section 9(2) of the Public Employment and Business Services Act, the following information is necessary for filling a job vacancy:

1) the jobseeker’s name and contact information, native language, other language skills and nationality;
2) the jobseeker’s education status and vocational qualifications, as well as the content and grades thereof where necessary;
3) work history and the information provided in the work certificate;
4) the performance of military service;
5) special skills, work and education wishes, as well as the jobseeker’s own job-seeking presentation for employers;
6) the information that the person has been an unemployed jobseeker for the past 12 consecutive months, as required for fulfilling the requirement for concluding a fixed-term employment agreement in accordance with Chapter 1, Section 3(a) of the Employment Contracts Act and Chapter 1, Section 4(a) of the Seafarers’ Employment Contracts Act.

Information related to the jobseeker’s state of health may only be disclosed to the employer if the jobseeker gives their individualised written consent or the information is necessary for filling a job vacancy or fulfilling the specific health requirements of the field of profession in question or promoting the employment of a jobseeker whose disability or illness hinders their employment (Chapter 13, Section 9(3) of the Public Employment and Business Service Act).

The employer also has the right to know whether a former employee is registered as a jobseeker with the TE Office when fulfilling the re-employment obligation set in the Employment Contracts Act.

The experiment area municipality, the TE Office, the Social Insurance Institution, unemployment funds and foreign institutions authorised to process tasks related to the person’s job-seeking and unemployment security have the right to mutually exchange information related to job-seeking and unemployment security that has an impact on the person’s right to receive the unemployment benefit (Chapter 11, Section 4(a) and Chapter 13, Section 1(3) of the Unemployment Security Act, Act on the Application of European Union Legislation Concerning the Coordination of Social Security Systems).

Client data may also be disclosed to a public employment service provider and a provider of a service supporting employment as agreed upon in the employment plan or another corresponding plan, provided that the information is necessary for the arrangement of the services (Chapter 12, Section 6(2) of the Public Employment and Business Service Act).

Some of the client information has been ordered to be retained permanently by the National Archives in accordance with the Archives Act (831/1994). The data ordered to be retained permanently will be transferred to the National Archives after it has been removed from the client information system.

Client data will be disclosed to other authorities if the disclosure is prescribed by law or the client has given their consent to the disclosure. The content of the information to be disclosed will be determined based on the right of access to the information of the authority requesting the information.

Processors of personal data

The City may outsource the processing of your personal data to an external system or service provider based on a separate agreement. In such a case, the personal data is processed on behalf of the City and to fulfil a purpose determined by the City. The City remains the controller of your personal data. The City and the service provider are jointly responsible for the appropriate processing of your personal data.

Is your personal data transferred outside the EU or EEA?

By default, the City of Helsinki ensures that your personal data is processed within the EU or the EEA. However, in some cases, the City’s services or functions may also be implemented by a service provider located somewhere else, by using services and servers. In such a case, your personal data may be transferred outside the EU or the EEA as well, such as the United States. The General Data Protection Regulation sets strict criteria for transferring data to countries whose legislation concerning the processing of personal data deviates from the requirements of European data protection legislation. In such cases, the City of Helsinki commits to adhering to the requirements set for an adequate level of personal data protection and, where applicable, commits its system suppliers and service providers to take care of similar data protection obligations, as prescribed in data protection legislation.

How long do we retain your personal data?

Client data entered into the client information system used in public employment services will be removed four years after the end of the client relationship. However, the data will not be removed if it is necessary for performing a task based on regulations or due to a pending matter.

Recordings of phone conversations between personal clients and the advisory service will be removed six months after their recording.

Some of the client information has been ordered to be retained permanently by the National Archives in accordance with the Archives Act (831/1994). The data ordered to be retained permanently will be transferred to the National Archives after it has been removed from the client information system. The KEHA Centre is responsible for removing the documents entered into the aforementioned system and documents submitted via the E-services.

The City of Helsinki will be an independent creator of archives for the duration of the municipal experiment insofar as the information in question is not contained in the aforementioned systems or documents submitted via them. In connection with its tasks, the City will be responsible for archiving the documents it receives and generates in accordance with the Archives Act. During the municipal experiment, documents received and generated by the City will be processed and archived in accordance with the City’s data management plan.

Automated decision-making and profiling

We will not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling.

Rights concerning the processing of your personal data

The rights of data subjects and instructions on how to exercise them can be found at:
https://www.hel.fi/en/decision-making/information-on-helsinki/data-protection-and-information-management/data-protectio…

Right of access, Article 15

You have the right to know whether your personal data is processed and what data is stored about you. The City of Helsinki will provide you with the information without undue delay, at the latest within one month of receiving the request. If necessary, this period may be extended by a maximum of two months if the request is of exceptional scope and complexity. If the time limit is extended, the City will inform the person requesting the information of this within one month of receiving the request, as well as of the reasons for the delay.

Right to rectification, Article 16

You have the right to demand that the City rectify imprecise and inaccurate personal data concerning you without undue delay. In addition, you have the right to the supplementation of incomplete data. Any incompleteness of the data will be resolved by taking into account the purpose of the processing of the personal data in the register. If the City does not accept the person’s demand for rectification, it will issue a written certificate stating the reasons why the demand was not accepted. The possibility of lodging a complaint with a supervisory authority and of seeking other remedies is also mentioned in connection with the certificate.

Right to erasure, right to be forgotten, Article 17

The right to erasure does not exist if the processing is based on compliance with the City’s statutory obligation, or it is related to the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or the exercise of public authority vested in the City. In some exceptional cases – e.g. if the processing of data has been based on the person’s consent and the person withdraws their consent – the person has the right to have their data erased, i.e. to be forgotten. If the City does not accept the person’s demand for erasure, it will issue a written certificate stating the reasons why the demand was not accepted. The possibility of lodging a complaint with a supervisory authority and of seeking other remedies is also mentioned in connection with the certificate.

Right to restriction of processing, Article 18

Legislation pertaining to public employment services limits a personal client’s right to restrict the processing. A registered personal client does not have the right to restrict the processing of the data in the register in accordance with Article 18. The limitation in question is a limitation of the data subject’s rights set separately through legislative procedures in accordance with Article 23. In other respects, the data subject’s rights are applied normally.

Right to data portability, Article 20

The right to transfer personal data from one system to another is not applied when the processing is based on a public obligation. Because of that, this right does not apply to processing that is necessary for the fulfilment of a public obligation or the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of an official authority vested in the City. The right to transfer data from one controller to another pertains to situations in which the person themselves has provided the controller with their personal data, and the processing of the data is based on consent or an agreement, and the processing is carried out automatically.

Right to object, Article 21

A person has the right to object at any time on grounds related to their personal situation to the processing of their personal data where the processing is based on the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of an official authority vested in the City. In this case, the data may continue to be processed only if there is a substantial and justified reason for the processing that can be demonstrated by the City. The processing may also continue if the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. The right to object does not exist when personal data is processed based on other grounds, such as the fulfilment of a statutory obligation.

Right to lodge a complaint with an authority, Article 77

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority if you consider the processing of personal data concerning you to infringe the EU General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679). You also have the right to exercise other administrative and judicial remedies.

Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman

Street address: Lintulahdenkuja 4
Postal address: PO Box 800, 00531 Helsinki
Email: tietosuoja@om.fi
Switchboard: +358 29 56 66700

How can you contact us for questions related to data protection?

If you have questions related to data protection, you can contact Helsinki Employment Services’ lawyer (City Executive Office / Employment Services unit).

Contact person

City Executive Office / Economic Development / Director of Employment.
In accordance with Section 182 of the City Board decision on the responsibilities and tasks concerning register keeping in the City Executive Office issued on 7 March 2022, the person in charge of the register is the Director of Employment.

Contact information

City of Helsinki
Contact information
Email address: helsinki.kirjaamo@hel.fi
Postal address: PO Box 10
00099 CITY OF HELSINKI
Street address: Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13
Tel.: +358 9 310 13700
The opening hours of the Register Office are Monday to Friday 8.15–16.00.

KEHA Centre: tietosuoja.keha@ely-keskus.fi

Contact information of Data Protection Officer

Data Protection Officer of City of Helsinki
tietosuoja@hel.fi
+358 9 310 1691 (switchboard)

This privacy notice was updated on 27 August 2024.