Data Protection and Privacy

Information on Data Protection
At the Faroese National Health Service we deal with personal data as a necessary part of carrying out our institutional responsibilities. By extension we collect and process information about you. In this document on data protection, you will be briefed on how the Faroese National Health Service processes your personal information of data and the status of your rights.

Personal data constitute any data that are linked to, or may be linked to, a specific individual. This may be factual data, such as name, address, age, profession, income, or educational level, a combination thereof, or metadata that are linked to a person. Personal data may also be linked to a business – as in the case of businesses solely owned by one person or by shareholders.

The Faroese National Health Service collects and processes personal data in all our services. Our services are provided in compliance with the Faroese Data Protection Act of January 1st 2021. We have here assembled information on how we conform to this legislation.

Responsibility
To process personal data is to make use of personal data. Processing personal data may, for instance, be to collect, register, correlate, preserve, transfer, hand over, or a combination hereof. Whether said combination is automatised is irrelevant. All usage of personal data falls under «processing».

When the Faroese National Health Service processes personal data, it becomes the data controller of the collected data. This means that the Faroese National Health Service has responsibilities and obligations in accordance with the Faroese Data Protection Act for the collected personal data.

The Faroese National Health Service processes all information lawfully and securely. Everyone should feel secure in the knowledge that personal data are thoroughly protected by the Faroese National Health Service.

Processing of Personal Data
Data on you are processed by the Faroese National Health Service when it is necessary for the fulfilment of our duties as a public institution. Personal data on you are, for instance, part of our considerations in processing job applications, employee relations, or payment of wages. Additionally, information is processed to ensure smooth and fast casework. Administrative law governs public authorities and therefore the Faroese National Health Service is also subject to these regulations. The Faroese National Health Service registers all data it receives that are of importance to a case.

How Does the Faroese National Health Service Collect Personal Data?
The Faroese National Health Service processes data registered directly from the individual. This may be data that you yourself have provided to the Faroese National Health Service. This may also include data provided to us for instance regarding job applications. The Faroese National Health Service may also process information about you provided by other individuals, authorities, institutions, and businesses. Additionally, the Faroese National Health Service processes data as par for the course in standard administrative procedures as well as employee management.

Which Personal Data does the Faroese National Health Service Process?
The Faroese National Health Service processes personal data like names, addresses, social security numbers, telephone numbers, and financial information as for instance account numbers in connection with payment of wages.

The Faroese National Health Service also processes sensitive personal data concerning the physical and mental health an individual that provide information on their overall health status.

In certain circumstances the Faroese National Health Service processes personal data regarding criminal affairs. Personal data concerning criminal affairs are only processed in cases, where it is necessary for the purpose of inspections or in preparation of a criminal case.

Who has Access to Personal Data?
Employees of the Faroese National Health Service have access to data needed for carrying out its responsibility as a public authority.

How does the Faroese National Health Service protect Personal Data?
Employees of the Faroese National Health Service have responsibilities under civil penal code of confidentiality of information about individuals, associations, companies and institutions that they aquire knowlegde about in their work, both while they are working for the Faroese National Health Service and after their employment ends. The same applies to assistants and others working in the Faroese National Health Service.

Who does the Faroese National Health Service share information with?
The Faroese National Health Service shares information with other public authorities as part of carrying our public responsibilities.

The Faroese National Health Service only shares personal data provided the recipient of the data has documented that they have the authorisation to process the data in accordance with the Faroese Data Protection Act.

In limited cases suppliers of systems and technological solutions may have access to data, for instance in connection with support or updates. These are assigned the same strict confidentiality agreements as employees of the Faroese National Health Service. In the limited cases where suppliers are deemed to be «data processors», a special arrangement will be made, covering the same provisions on confidentiality.

For How Long Does the Faroese National Health Service Preserve Personal Data?
The Faroese National Health Service has in accordance with administrative law, national archival legislation etc. an obligation to preserve case data to ensure documentation of casework. When the Faroese National Health Service no longer requires the personal data, said data is transferred to the Faroese National Archives in accordance with legislation enacted by the Law Thing concerning archives.

Data collected for the purposes of producing statistics are not deleted. The reason for this is that statistics show trends and changes over time. When the data are no longer needed, they are handed over to the Faroese National Archives.

Your Rights
The Faroese Data Protection Act provides you with certain rights regarding the personal data that we have on you. These rights include among others:

• The right to insight into your personal data
• The right to be informed of the processing of your personal data
• The right to have erroneous information corrected
• The right to have your personal data deleted
• The right to protest the use of personal data for the purposes of direct marketing
• The right to protest automatic individual decisions including profiling
• The right to move personal data

Requests for Insights and Other Rights
If you wish to invoke any of the above rights, it is always possible to contact the Faroese National Health Service’s data protection officer (DPO), Jens Christian Olsen, tlf. +298 784070 or at jco@eirin.fo