Documents containing personal identity codes and passport copies have been available for purchase in the PRH information service
The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) has gone through 5.7 million Trade Register documents in its electronic archive to improve data protection and make the system safer for customers.
The documents are notifications submitted to the Finnish Trade Register and supporting documents in which companies should only have included public information (and not, for example, personal identity codes), as instructed by the PRH.
The PRH went through the documents using batch processing, which showed that documents containing personal identity codes and passport copies have been available for purchase in the Virre Information Service.
The case is not a data breach, and it was not possible for buyers to know the contents of the documents in advance.
The PRH has identified 3,495 purchases related to notifications in which the documents erroneously included personal identity codes or passport copies as public information. More than half of the documents containing a personal identity code or a passport copy were purchased by an authority. The notifications were submitted between November 2014 and the beginning of December 2021. The number is less than 0.5 per cent of all the documents in the electronic archive.
We apologise for this inconvenience.
Our measures for investigating the matter
The PRH has informed the Data Protection Ombudsman and the companies that have submitted the notifications. Go to prh.fi to see a list of the companies whose notifications with personal identity codes and passport copies were erroneously purchased in Virre.
We have encrypted the documents identified in the batch processing, and the personal identity codes or passport copies can no longer be purchased in the Virre service.
In order to avoid similar situations in the future, we have taken batch processing into permanent use in the electronic archive. The batch process constantly reviews new documents and encrypts documents containing personal identity codes and passport copies.
We will continue improving the data protection and information security of our systems. It is very important that personal identity codes are processed confidentially. We will do our best to prevent similar situations from arising in the future.
It is most unlikely but possible that erroneously disclosed personal identity codes are misused. We have published instructions for any person who suspects that a document containing their personal identity code or passport details has been available for purchase in Virre. Read the instructions at prh.fi.
Finnish Trade Register is a register for public use
Anyone is entitled to obtain information about the entries made in the Finnish Trade Register. This principle of open access also applies to all notifications and enclosures filed with the Finnish Trade Register. Companies are responsible for the information they file.
According to the PRH instructions, companies should not include documents, such as minutes or partnership agreements, containing personal identity codes, home addresses, or other sensitive details, such as health details, when they send notifications to the PRH. Read our instructions for companies filing personal identity codes and other personal data at prh.fi.
Some of our Trade Register information service customers, such as authorities, are entitled to receive details including personal identity codes of persons responsible for companies, and some of them are not.
The PRH registers and publishes details in the Finnish Trade Register
The Finnish Trade Register contains personal details of nearly 1.6 million people, and every day we send thousands of business details to contract customers and other customers through our information services.
The PRH has strict procedures for processing notifications in accordance with the data protection legislation. The PRH has also strict agreements with the parties using Trade Register information on how to process and send personal data in the Finnish Trade Register and how to use the information services.
For more information, please contact
Eero Mantere
Deputy Director General
Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH)
Tel. +358 29 509 5511
About us
We work for the benefit of companies and organizations.
We register companies, associations, foundations and other organizations and corporations, as well as enterprise mortgages and LEI codes. We examine and grant patents and register utility models. We also register trademarks for products and services and provide design protection. We oversee and approve auditors and monitor foundations and the collective management of copyright.
We offer our customers advisory services and courses. We give information about companies, organizations, corporations and immaterial rights.
Our office is an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for international PCT patent applications.
Our office comes under the administrative sector of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (MEAE), and we negotiate each year with the MEAE on our performance targets. Our office is subject to net budgeting, meaning that about 95% of our expenses are covered by the income we make from our services.
Read more: https://www.prh.fi/en/presentation_and_duties.html
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