Individuals

Can Statistics Iceland collect personal information from individuals?
Yes. The Act on Statistics Iceland and official statistics provides that Statistics Iceland shall, as far as possible, obtain the necessary statistical data on individuals from public records, and is furthermore permitted to obtain personal information directly from individuals.

Why is Statistics Iceland contacting me even though I am exempt from being part of samples from the National Registry for marketing purposes?
Prohibition marking in the National Registry covers direct marketing where the objective is to sell or offer products or services. Socially important activities, e.g. scientific research and statistics, are exempt from the National Registry‘s restricted registry.

Can Statistics Iceland collect personal information from administrative records?
Yes. The Act on Statistics Iceland and official statistics provides that Statistics Iceland may link its own data with data from other parties containing information about individuals or legal entities on the basis of an ID number or other identification.

Does Statistics Iceland provide access to personal information?
No. Statistics Iceland may only provide access to personal data for approved research or for co-operation with international organisations within the European Statistical System. Strict conditions are set for access to personal data in both cases. Before granting access, direct identifiers are removed from the data and indirect identifiers are removed or encrypted as far as possible and in such a way that full security is always maintained.

Can I get information about myself from Statistics Iceland's databases?
No. Statistical institutes are exempt from the general rules on the submission of data according to Article 15 of the Privacy Regulation. In order to process information in an unidentifiable manner with regard to protection of personal data, it is in fact not possible to provide information about specified individuals.

Can I correct or have information about me deleted from Statistics Iceland's databases?
During the collection of personal information directly from individuals, it is possible to make corrections or requests for the deletion of previous answers, and Statistics Iceland will do so. After data processing is started and the personal ID has been removed, the data cannot be deleted or changed. Personal information collected from files, from companies or institutions will not be deleted or changed by Statistics Iceland at the request of individuals covered by the data. The responsibility for the integrity of that data lies with the companies or institutions in question.

Where should I look for more information?
The Data Protection Officer of Statistics Iceland provides advice and information to employees, partners and data providers, and ensures that the Data Protection Act is complied with in all of Statistics Iceland's processing. The Data Protection Officer is also Statistics Iceland's liaison with the Data Protection Authority. Suggestions and inquiries about privacy issues can be sent by e-mail to dataprotection@statice.is.

Companies and institutions

Can Statistics Iceland obtain personally identifiable data?
Yes. Statistics Iceland is authorised to require personally identifiable data in accordance with the Act on Statistics Iceland and official statistics, provided that there are objective reasons for obtaining such data. The Statistics Iceland Act places strict obligations on Statistics Iceland to safeguard such confidential data and to prevent the published data from being traced to specific individuals, directly or indirectly.

Is it necessary to inform the institution's clients or customers that Statistics Iceland has been provided with data on them?
No, it's not necessary. The data is collected solely for the purpose of compiling statistics in accordance with the law. It is not permitted to use the data to directly affect the status, rights or obligations of individuals, let alone disclose the interests of certain individuals.

How does Statistics Iceland handle personally identifiable data in its databases?
The security of data at Statistics Iceland is ensured as thoroughly as possible. Statistics Iceland's management system for information security is certified regularly in accordance with the ISO-27001 standard. Moreover, there are rules on the in-house handling of confidential data, international rules on the handling of confidential data that Statistics Iceland must respect, the duty of confidentiality of employees and finally penal provisions in the Statistics Iceland Act is case of violation. Statistics Iceland employees do not work with ID numbers and names for longer than is necessary for cleaning and correction, after which such personal identifiers are erased and processed with internal identifiers instead.

What is done with the data?

Statistics
The main purpose of all data collection by Statistics Iceland is to compile and publish statistics. Statistics are public, statistical information on society published by official statistical institutes. Statistics on individuals, households or families are usually published as aggregate numerical values. According to law, Statistics Iceland may not publish information that will be traced to specified individuals unless it is obvious that such information does not have confidential. Publications are made public on the Statistics Iceland's website.

International obligations
In accordance with Statistics Iceland's formal position as the centre of official statistics in Iceland, the institution provides information and data submission to various international organisations such as the OECD, the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and Eurostat. The data submitted by Statistics Iceland can be in the form of statistics, summarised results or micro-data without direct identification. All disclosure and submission of data by Statistics Iceland to international organisations is in accordance with Iceland‘s international obligations.

European co-operation
In European Statistics, the statistical offices of European countries can exchange confidential data if the purpose is to improve European statistics and it is in accordance with legal obligations. Strict rules apply to the handling of such data, which is further provided for in Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on statistics, which has been incorporated into the EEA Agreement. However, such data is always without any direct identification.

Approved researchers
Accredited or credible researchers may apply for access to Statistics Iceland's micro-data that has been collected for statistical purposes in order to carry out scientific research, in accordance with Article 13 of the Act on Statistics Iceland and official statistics. In order to gain access to micro-data, researchers must be connected to a research institute that has been approved by Statistics Iceland. Access to data for researchers is provided through Statistics Iceland's remote access research system. Before granting access, direct identifiers are removed from the data and indirect identifiers are removed or encrypted, as far as possible and in such a way that full security is always maintained.