Processing of Personal Data
In connection with the performance of its tasks, the Department of Civil Affairs processes information about individuals (personal data). If you have been in contact with the Department of Civil Affairs, or if the solution of one of our tasks has made it necessary, we process personal data about you. The processing of personal data is done in accordance with the rules of the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation.
When the Department of Civil Affairs processes cases, information about you is registered in our IT systems. The information may include, for example, your name, CPR number, and address. There may also be more personal information about you if such information has been provided for the case.
1. The Department of Civil Affairs is the Data Controller – How to contact us
The Department of Civil Affairs is responsible for the processing of the personal data it has received about you. You can find the Department of Civil Affairs’ contact details below.
Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs
Toldboden 2, 2nd floor
8800 Viborg
CVR number: 11 57 01 19
Phone: +45 33 92 33 34
Email: civilstyrelsen@civilstyrelsen.dk
2. Contact Details for the Data Protection Officer
The Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs has appointed a Data Protection Officer. The Data Protection Officer’s role is, among other things, to ensure that the Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs complies with the rules on how personal data is processed lawfully and securely.
The Data Protection Officer can provide you with more information about the rules for data protection. The Data Protection Officer can also guide you about your rights in relation to the Department of Civil Affairs’ processing of personal data, and whom to contact if you wish to exercise your rights.
The Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at dpo@civilstyrelsen.dk or by sending a letter to:
Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs
Attn: Data Protection Officer
Toldboden 2, 2nd floor
8800 Viborg
The reason for collecting and processing information is that:
- You have contacted the Department of Civil Affairs, or
- You have initiated a case with the Department of Civil Affairs, or
- Another party or the Department of Civil Affairs has initiated a case, and information about you is necessary for processing the case.
3. Purposes and Legal Basis for the Processing of Your Personal Data
The Department of Civil Affairs processes personal data in order to solve tasks related to:
- The Danish Inheritance Act (Arveloven) and the Danish Guardianship Act (Værgemålsloven)
- Applications for legal aid, including providing legal aid for cases abroad, and legal assistance for complaints to international complaint bodies.
- Specific cases in the legal profession
- The Danish Foundation Act (Fondsloven) and certain associations
- The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board’s decisions under the State Compensation to Victims of Crime Act
- Reports, notifications, applications, and complaints under the Danish Fundraising Act (Indsamlingsloven) etc.
- Applications for grants under the Act on the Victim Fund (Lov om Offerfonden) and the Executive Order on the Rules of Procedure for the Council of the Victim Fund (bekendtgørelse om forretningsordenen for Rådet for Offerfonden)
- The task of the Medico-Legal Council (Retslægerådet), which is to provide medical and pharmaceutical opinions to public authorities in cases concerning the legal status of individuals
- Dissemination of information to the public according to the Act on the Official Gazette (Statstidende)
- Publication of decisions in the Legal Information System (Retsinformation) that are of principle or significance to the public
- Administration of personnel, including case processing related to employment matters
If you have made written contact via email, the Department of Civil Affairs processes your personal data for the following purposes:
- To process your inquiry and connect you with the relevant department.
- To ensure effective handling of inquiries and track which inquiries have been processed, including for retrieval of previous inquiries and practices.
You may receive a more detailed description of the purpose from the department handling your inquiry.
If you have made written contact via email, the legal basis for the Department of Civil Affairs' processing of your personal data is:
- GDPR Article 6, paragraph 1, letters c and e.
- If you have provided sensitive information, it will be processed under GDPR Article 9, paragraph 2, letter f.
- If you have provided information about criminal matters, our processing is based on the Data Protection Act Section 8, paragraphs 1 and 2, number 3.
- The processing of information about personal identification numbers is done to ensure clear identification, in accordance with the Data Protection Act Section 11, paragraph 1.
4. Recipients of Your Personal Data
We disclose personal data to various authorities when necessary for the performance of our regular tasks, including when the law requires us to share the information.
We also disclose information to foreign authorities in individual cases when required by law.
As mentioned, you may receive a more detailed purpose description from us. This will outline any potential recipients.
If we receive a request for access to the case in which your personal data is included, we normally have to disclose the information unless it is confidential.
5. Your Rights
Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have a number of rights in relation to how we process your data. If you wish to exercise your rights, you must contact the Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs. These rights include:
- Right to access information
You have the right to access the information we process about you, as well as a number of additional details.
- Right to rectification
You have the right to have incorrect information about you corrected.
- Right to erasure
In specific cases, you have the right to have information about you deleted before the general time for deletion occurs.
- Right to restrict processing
In certain situations, you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. If you have the right to restrict processing, the Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs can only process the data – apart from storage – with your consent, for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims, or to protect the rights of an individual or significant public interest.
- Right to object
In some cases, you have the right to object to our otherwise lawful processing of your personal data.
You can read more about your rights in the Danish Data Protection Agency's guidelines on the rights of individuals.
Requests for access, rectification, deletion, restriction of processing, or objection should be sent to the Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs.
6. Information on Complaints to the Danish Data Protection Agency
You have the right to file a complaint with the Danish Data Protection Agency if you are dissatisfied with how the Ministry of Justice, Department of Civil Affairs handles your personal data. You can find the contact details for the Data Protection Agency at www.datatilsynet.dk.