Emergency response centre legislation to be updated to comply with EU data protection legislation

The provisions on the processing of personal data in emergency response centre operations will be updated to comply with the EU data protection legislation. The legislative amendments will not affect the right of the Emergency Response Centre Agency’s operators to process personal data needed in their work.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protects the fundamental rights of natural persons and safeguards the protection of personal data. The Regulation lays down provisions on the principles relating to processing of personal data, lawfulness of processing and the responsibilities of the controller. 

Provisions on the conditions for the lawfulness of the processing of personal data in emergency response centre operations will be added to the Act on Emergency Response Centre Operations, and the processing of special categories of personal data, sensitive personal data and personal identity codes will also be allowed. 

The Emergency Response Centre Agency will become the controller of personal data in respect of surveillance tasks and emergency calls considered to be guarding duties and other data related to assisting public authorities, as well as in respect of personal data related to reports of damage, harassment and wrongdoing, or disruptions in information systems or network traffic.

The National Police Board will be the controller for police data, the authority responsible for the organisation of healthcare and social welfare services will be the controller for healthcare and social welfare data, the authority responsible for the organisation of rescue services will be the controller for rescue service call data, and the Border Guard Headquarters will be the controller for the Border Guard data.

The amendments clarify core tasks and eliminate overlaps 

The amendments will also specify the authorities’ right of access to information and the processing of data for purposes other than the original purpose, and eliminate overlaps with the Act on Information Management in Public Administration.

The amendments will clarify the core tasks of the Emergency Response Centre Agency. In addition, under the Consular Services Act, the Emergency Response Centre Agency can assist the Foreign Service in auxiliary consular assistance tasks. According to an amendment to the Safety Investigation Act, the Emergency Response Centre Agency can also assist the Safety Investigation Authority in receiving reports.

The amendments will enter into force in stages in 2023 and 2024.

Inquiries:
Annika Parsons, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 488 279, firstname.lastname@govsec.fi