Skip to main content
Online services
Online services

Privacy statement for the Finnish Business Information System (BIS)

The Finnish Business Information System (BIS) is an information system jointly maintained by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) and the Finnish Tax Administration. Joint notifications of the PRH and the Finnish Tax Administration are entered in the Finnish Business Information System.

The PRH and the Finnish Tax Administration are responsible for safeguarding the data subjects’ rights specified in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) with regard to their own basic registers.

If necessary, the requests concerning data subjects’ rights are referred to the appropriate authority. This is done, for example, when a matter within the purview of the Finnish Tax Administration that concerns a data subject’s rights has been addressed to the PRH.

The PRH is responsible for the technical maintenance and development of the Finnish Business Information System. The controllers (the PRH and the Finnish Tax Administration) make entries in the system. The authority that makes the entry or in whose basic register the information in question has been entered is responsible for the correctness of the entries made in the Finnish Business Information System.

Controllers

Finnish Patent and Registration Office
Mailing address: Finnish Patent and Registration Office, FI-00091 PRH, Finland
Street address: Sörnäisten rantatie 13 C, Helsinki, Finland
Tel. (exchange): +358 29 509 5000

Finnish Tax Administration
Mailing address: PO Box 325, FI-00052 VERO, Finland
Street address: Vääksyntie 4 A, Helsinki, Finland
Tel. (exchange): +358 29 512 000

Representative of controllers

Ville Tornberg Head of Registration
Email: ville.tornberg@prh.fi
Tel. +358 29 509 5409

Data protection officers

Finnish Patent and Registration Office
Tel. (exchange): +358 29 509 5000
Email: tietosuojavastaava@prh.fi

Finnish Tax Administration
Tel. (exchange): +358 29 512 000
Email: verohallinto@vero.fi

The purpose of the processing of personal data is

  • to grant Finnish Business Identity Codes
  • to issue international Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI codes)
  • to collect and save identification details and basic details of companies and organisations for the Finnish Business Information System, basic registers of the Finnish Tax Administration (VAT register, prepayment register, employer register and the register of parties liable to pay tax on insurance premiums), and the basic registers of the PRH (Finnish Trade Register, Register of Associations, Register of Foundations, and the Register of Religious Communities)
  • to disclose data.

Compliance with Article 6(1)(c) of the General Data Protection Regulation (controller’s statutory obligation) serves as the legal basis for processing personal data. Provisions on the processing are contained in the Business Information Act (244/2001).

Personal data storage periods

Under the Archive Act (831/1994), the archiving party must determine the storage periods and methods for the documents accumulated as a result of the tasks and to maintain an archive formation plan for them. Under the Archive Act, the National Archives of Finland determines which documents or which data contained in the documents should be stored permanently.

The personal data and documents processed by the PRH are stored on a permanent basis.

The contact details of the companies, organisations and other parties liable to register that are considered to have terminated their activities entirely are removed from the company and organisation search (information service) of the Finnish Business Information System one year after the termination. However, the contact details are not removed from the database.

Personal data processed in the Finnish Business Information System

The following personal data is processed in the Finnish Business Information System:

  • person’s name
  • personal identity code or, if the person concerned does not have a personal identity code, the internal system code
  • date of birth
  • contact details (mailing and street address and such information as the phone number).

Provisions on the other information entered in the Finnish Business Information System are contained in section 4 of the Business Information Act.

Regular data sources

As a rule, we receive the personal data on the basis of the notifications submitted by the parties liable to register specified in the Business Information Act.

Disclosure of data

We may disclose personal data in situations required and permitted by the existing legislation.

Depending on the intended use of the register, personal data may, as a rule, be disclosed to the authorities and other parties, such as

  • the Digital and Population Data Services Agency
  • credit information companies
  • insurance companies
  • information service companies
  • European Business Register (EBR)
  • Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS)
  • Beneficial Ownership Registers Interconnection System (BORIS)
  • Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF).

Information can be disclosed from the register of business identity codes in accordance with section 16 of the Business Information Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999). The information is public unless specifically ordered to be kept secret by law.

Transfer of data to countries outside the EU or the EEA

In specific cases, the PRH may also transfer personal data to organisations operating outside the European Economic Area (third countries) in accordance with Chapter V of the General Data Protection Regulation or an obligation under an international treaty.

With regard to GLEIF, the transfer is based on the equivalence decision made by the European Commission under Article 45(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation.

In other respects, no information is transferred to outside the European Economic Area or to international organisations.

Automated decision-making

No personal data is used for automated decision-making.

Rights of the data subject

Right of access

You have the right to access your personal data and check it.
You can check the public information viewable in the Finnish Business Information System via the following link: www.ytj.fi.

If you cannot check your details in the online service, you can submit a request to check your personal data kept in the PRH’s registers to the Finnish Patent and Registration Office or (for the registers of the Finnish Tax Administration) to the Finnish Tax Administration.

Contact details of the PRH:

  • by email
  • by post (Finnish Patent and Registration Office, FI-00091 PRH, Finland)
  • by phone (+358 29 509 5000)
  • by visiting our customer service point in Helsinki.

We recommend that you use secure email if you submit the request by email. Select ‘Control of your details’ as the message recipient. Read the instructions and send secure email.

Be prepared to prove your identity.

Contact details of the Finnish Tax Administration:

Read more about data security and the processing of personal data in the Finnish Tax Administration: Data security and the processing of personal data - vero.fiOpen link in a new tab

Right to rectification of data

You have the right to rectify inaccurate and incorrect personal data on you.
Give the following information in the rectification request:

  • the data you want to correct (word for word)
  • proposed changes (word for word)
  • justification for the proposed changes
  • your name
  • your contact details (such as email address or phone number).

If your matter concerns a company, association or foundation, enter its name and Business ID or registration number.

If your address has been registered for a company, association or foundation in which you do not hold a responsible position, submit the rectification request on an online form: https://turvaviesti.prh.fi/virheellinen-osoite.Open link in a new tab

Give the following information on the online form:

  • name and Business ID of the company or association
  • address or other contact information incorrectly registered in the company’s or association’s data
  • email address to which we should send the information about the processing of the rectification request.

In other cases, you can submit the request to rectify your own details kept in the PRH’s registers to the Finnish Patent and Registration Office or (for the registers of the Finnish Tax Administration) to the Finnish Tax Administration.

Contact details of the PRH:

  • by email
  • by post (Finnish Patent and Registration Office, FI-00091 PRH, Finland).

We recommend that you use secure email if you submit the request by email. Select ‘PRH Registry’ as the message recipient. Read the instructions and send secure email.Open link in a new tab

Be prepared to prove your identity in all situations.

Contact details of the Finnish Tax Administration:

  • verohallinto@vero.fi
  • by post: Verohallinto, Mailing address: PO Box 325, FI-00052 VERO, Finland

Restrictions on the data subject’s rights

Processing of the personal data is based on compliance with a statutory obligation of the PRH and the Finnish Tax Administration. In such cases, you cannot request the deletion of your personal data or its transfer to another system and, as a rule, you cannot object to the processing of your personal data.

Right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority

If you consider that your personal data is processed unlawfully, you can submit a complaint to the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.

For more information on submitting the complaint, visit the website of the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman at https://tietosuoja.fi/en/home.

Other information

Read more about the processing of personal data in the PRH: https://www.prh.fi/en/presentation_and_duties/processing_personaldata/how_we_process.htmlOpen link in a new tab

Read more about the processing of personal data in the Finnish Tax Administration: https://vero.fi/en/About-us/finnish-tax-administration/data-security-and-information-access/data-security-and-the-processing-of-personal-data/Open link in a new tab

‍