e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

Key Points - 35
x The proportion of interactive services in all electronic services is still relatively low within the
central government. This should be seen in the light of services that are not necessarily in the
Finnish context or that have been made redundant by e-government. Recognising this, the
Finnish government seems to be taking the approach that “more is not necessarily better”, at
least when it comes to online services.
4.2.4 Stage 4 electronic services: data sharing
224. Stage 4 electronic services in Finland are based primarily on a system of central data registers.
Some examples of stage 4 services include:
- The Statistics Finland Census Collection, a statistical database that draws most of its information from
central registers rather than by collecting data from the public (see Box 4.2).
- The Traffic Data System, a system of road traffic registers containing information on vehicles and driving
licences that can be used for different purposes, e.g. taxation, insurance, inspections, statistics. (see Box
4.3).
225. As noted above, it is particularly difficult to define a model for the advanced stages of electronic
service delivery. This is evident from the OECD survey findings for electronic services at Stage 4. The
survey defines Stage 4 electronic service delivery as “Stage 1 + 2 + 3 + the ability for the agency, with the
user’s prior approval, to share with other government agencies information provided by that user”. In its
response to the survey, Statistics Finland notes, “Sharing personal data at micro level with other ministries
or agencies is not possible because of privacy protection. Use of aggregate statistical data from other
ministries and agencies is possible and widely used as our data collection is based mainly on registers of
other authorities.”
226. In all, only two respondents (5%) indicated that they provide an electronic service at Stage 4.
Five other ministries and agencies state that they plan to deliver Stage 4 electronic services. These results
disguise the fact that much of the data matching in the PRS is not tied to specific services for users. It
simplifies government operations without necessarily involving individual citizens or businesses, so that
the government can reduce the number of services needed and provided.
227. All data matching needs to be legally approved or explicitly permitted to prevent the
unauthorised or illegal use of data (including collection of anonymous data for research). The level of
transparency of data collecting organisations and the confidence in data protection authorities are critical
both for the accuracy and quality of data and for the protection of citizens’ rights. Said the Data Protection
Ombudsman, “People think that data protection is about protecting data, I think it’s about protecting people
and their rights.” (See Part 3.1.2, “Privacy protection”.)
228. Stage 4 electronic services have great potential because Finland has quite complete system of
public registers. The Basic Public Registers System comprises a series of related public registers held by
agencies and other public authorities: the Personal Information System, the Corporate Information System,
the Real Estate Information System and the Building Information System 43 .
43 See the JUHTA publication “The National Basic Registers of Society General Description”, 2/1977
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