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Tietosuoja haltuun harrastustoiminnassa -hankkeen logo, jossa on tietosuojalainsäädäntöön ja lapsiin liittyvä kirjainlyhenne GDPR4CHLDRN. Tietosuoja haltuun harrastustoiminnassa -hankkeen logo, jossa on tietosuojalainsäädäntöön ja lapsiin liittyvä kirjainlyhenne GDPR4CHLDRN.
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  • English
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • English
  • Front page
  • Guiding materials
    • Board of the association
    • Coaches and instructors
    • Parents
    • Children and young people
  • Material bank
    • Term bank
    • Quizzes
    • Downloadable materials
    • Data protection icons 
    • Articles
  • Information on the site
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  1. Front page
  2. Parents
  3. Basic information for parents on the processing of children’s personal data
  4. Where can I check what personal data is being processed about my child or family?
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Parents

  • Starting page
  • Basic information for parents on the processing of children's personal data
    • Why is it necessary to collect personal data?
    • Where can I check what personal data is being processed about my child or family?
    • What should I do if I think that there are errors in the data collected on my child?
  • Data protection FAQ for parents
    • What kinds of data are collected about my child and/or adolescent in their hobby?
    • Is data about parents collected in my child's and/or adolescent's hobby?
    • Why is personal data collected?
    • For how long will the hobby organiser keep my data and that of my underage child?
    • What data protection rights does my child/adolescent have, and can I exercise them on the child's/adolescent's behalf as their parent?
    • Is it OK in hobby activities to send email with the names of all the recipients displayed in the recipient field?
    • Is someone with access to the addresses of people participating in the hobby allowed to give my address if someone asks for it?
    • What age must a child be to make decisions on matters concerning their personal data?
    • My child's data has been disclosed for direct marketing. Is that allowed?
    • What does 'information society services intended for children' mean?
    • As a parent, can I post photos of my child and their friends on platforms like Facebook?
  • Articles for parents

Where can I check what personal data is being processed about my child or family?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is in force in Finland too. The GDPR and other legislation ensure that, as a rule, parents have the right to know what kind of personal data, and what data specifically, a hobby organiser has on their families.

You can ask the hobby organiser for information on the types of personal data it is processing and on what basis, who have access to that data, and whether the organiser is disclosing the data to third parties. Generally speaking, this information should be available without having to specifically ask for it, for example on the organiser’s website. However, if you want to know what specific data a hobby organiser has collected on your child, you need to submit a request for information to the organiser. If you do so, you should bear in mind that your data is usually stored under that of your child. In other words, you need to request your child’s data instead of your own.

As the parent of a minor, you should nevertheless keep a few things in mind when requesting data. First of all, simply being a child’s parent is usually not enough to represent the child. The parent also needs to be the child’s custodian. As in other areas of life, the child’s right to self-determination increases with age. This means that, when your child is 16, you will not be provided as much information about them as when they were 6.

This is because your child’s right to self-determination in the processing and disclosure of their data increases as they get older. When a child is young, their custodians represent the child and manage all of their affairs. This also applies to the processing of personal data. At some point, however, the child achieves a sufficient level of maturity that they are deemed capable of managing their own affairs, such as deciding on whether their custodians are entitled to represent them in all matters involving the processing of personal data or whether there are circumstances in which the disclosure of certain personal data to their parent should be refused.

Legislation does not specify any specific age at which a child is sufficiently mature to make decisions alone on the processing of their personal data. Evidently, once a child reaches adulthood at the age of 18, their parents no longer have access to their information without a special reason. Such special reasons could include the child’s consent or the appointment of a guardian.

Minors themselves still have the right to exercise the rights of the data subject under the GDPR with regard to their own data. In other words, they can request access to their own data or the rectification or erasure of that data.

Remember

Simply being a parent does not automatically give access to all data concerning your child.

Why is it necessary to collect personal data?
What should I do if I think that there are errors in the data collected on my child?
The logo of the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.
The logo of TIEKE Finnish Information Society Development Centre.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Information on the website

The site contains material that provide information on data protection legislation and the protection of personal data, especially for children and young people aged 13–17, their parents, and associations that organise hobby activities. The website has been developed in the GDPR4CHLDRN – Ensuring data protection in hobbies project (2022–2024) implemented by the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman and TIEKE.

Feedback about the site can be given by e-mail to the address tietosuoja@om.fi. In the message field, you must mention tietosuojaharrastuksissa.fi, so that the feedback is directed to the correct address.

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© 2024 Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman and TIEKE. The site uses free Font Awesome icons. The icons have not been changed. License: CC BY 4.0

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