File description

1. Name of the Register

2. Controller

Name: National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland
Postal address: P.O. Box 1190, FI-00101 Helsinki
Street address: Arkadiankatu 6 A, 00100 Helsinki
Telephone: (09) 6939 500

3. Purpose of the Register

Under the Associations Act, the Register of Religious Communities is kept by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland.

The Register contains information on religious communities and their local communities.

The duties of the Register of Religious Communities consist of keeping the Register of Religious Communities on the basis of notifications of establishment, amendment or dissolution; of carrying out of preliminary checks of bylaws and amendments to bylaws; and of providing information to clients.

In addition to the effect of publicity, some of the entries in the Register have constitutive effect.

4. Data Content of the Register

The Freedom of Religion Act lays down the details that a religious community must report for entry in the Register. In addition, certain duties to notify for entry in the Register of Associations that are laid down for courts of law in the Associations Act are also applicable to registered religious communities and the Register of Religious Communities under the Freedom of Religion Act.

Under the Freedom of Religion Act, the Register of religious communities must contain the name of the community and the municipality which is its place of registration, the type and the date of arrival of the notification; date of registration and registration number; the provision of the bylaws on the manner of signing for the community as well as the full name, address, municipality of residence and personal identity code or date of birth of the chairperson of the Committee of Directors and the same information on any other person who is authorised to sign for the community on his or her own or together with another person; preliminary check of the bylaws and any amendment to them; surrender in bankruptcy of the assets of the community and the termination of the bankruptcy proceedings; any caution or temporary ban on activities issued on the community; and the liquidators or trustees chosen or appointed for the community. Corresponding details and membership status of a religious community are entered in the register concerning congregations and local communities, along with other information necessary for the keeping of the register.

5. Regular Sources of Data

The data entered in the Register of Religious Communities is based on notifications submitted by religious communities, authorities and courts of law. The notification of establishment of a religious community must be accompanied by the charter and the community bylaws; also the full name, address, municipality of residence and personal identity code of the chairperson of the Committee of Directors and of those authorised to sign for the community, as well as any restrictions to the signing rights according to Section 36 of the Associations Act must be submitted, and details on the founders of the community as referred to i Section 4, subsection 3 of the Freedom of Religion Act. If the person has no Finnish personal identity code, his or her date of birth is indicated.

Under an agreement between the National Board of Patents and Registration and the Population Register Centre, the Register of Religious Communities can update its data and check the personal details of persons reported in notifications and attachments against the Population Information System.

6. Regular Disclosure of Data

Disclosure of data from the Register of Religious Communities takes place under the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999) and the Personal Data Act (523/1999). Anyone is entitled to obtain information from the Register of Religious Communities. However, the list of founders of a religious community is secret under Section 11 of the Personal Data Act and Section 24, paragraph 32, of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. Information can be obtained from the Register of Religious Communities by ordering extracts from the Register, by inquiring by telephone, or by studying electronic registers at the National Board of Patents and Registration. Contract clients can study the information over the Internet in the NetYREKA service on the website of the National Board of Patents and Registration, or by using application queries. Information is also available over the Internet in the free-of-charge AssociationNet service on the website of the National Board of Patents and Registration. The data in the Register of Religious Communities is also available through our Shopping Basket Service, which requires access codes for an online banking service of a Finnish bank or payment by Visa or Mastercard credit cards. Customers of Elisa or TeliaSonera can order data from the Register of Religious Communities to their mobile phones. Notifications submitted by religious communities or their local communities can be studied at the National Board of Patents and Registration.

7. Principles of Securing Data

Manual data The manual data is stored in separate archives dedicated for the purpose. Only the staff of the National Board of Patents and Registration has access to the archives through a passage control.
Data stored electronically The ADB system of the Register of Associations is operated on a mainframe computer which is located in a fireproof and locked space. Only authorised persons responsible for the ADB operations have access there. The system is accessed from PCs and requires a user ID and a password. The users are divided in different groups that have different access rights. A person responsible for the register grants authorisations and gives access rights to the groups. File maintenance on PCs takes place in premises that are locked and have passage control.

8. Right of Access

A data subject can inspect what information on him or her has been entered in the Register of Religious Communities, or that there are no such entries. It is possible to check one’s data free of charge once a year.

A request for access to data must be submitted to the National Board of Patents and Registration in writing and the request must be personally signed. The request must state the name and personal identity code of the person in question. The information is printed on paper and given to the client or delivered by post to the address submitted by the client. The information can also be checked at the Client Service of the National Board of Patents and Registration upon proving one's identity.

9. Rectification of Personal Data

The correctness of personal details is checked against the Population Information System, if the person in question has a Finnish identity code. The details of those who have no Finnish personal identity code are checked against the documents that the association/religious community/ in question has submitted. If the information received from the Population Information System (name, address, citizenship, possible incapacity) is incorrect, requests for rectification or amendment are to be filed with the controller of the Population Information System. Requests for rectification concerning persons without a Finnish personal identity code are to be filed with the National Board of Patents and Registration.