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Privacy Policy

Personal data is any information that can be linked to an identifiable individual. Here you can read about how we collect personal data and what we use it for. We will process your personal data in a lawful and secure manner. Longyearbyen Local Council aims to make information security and privacy a natural part of our business. 

Why do we need personal data?

Longyearbyen Local Authority collects and processes personal data that we need to perform our statutory duties and other services. In addition, we collect what we need to be able to process inquiries we receive from you. 

When we "process personal data," this means, for example, that we:

• collect the information
• register it
• compile it
• store it
• delete it
• or disclose it

If the Longyearbyen Local Authority wishes to process personal data that is not necessary for performing our statutory duties, you will be informed that providing the data is voluntary. You will also be informed of the purpose of processing the personal data.

Where do we get the information from?

Longyearbyen Local Authority obtains information directly from you, from public registers and, in some cases, from third parties. For example, we obtain tax assessment information or other information from the Norwegian Tax Administration, NAV or the National Population Register. We may also ask you to provide other types of information when you apply for a service or benefit.

When you log in to Longyearbyen Local Authority's application portals and pages via ID-porten (Norway's national authentication portal), you can choose to save a draft of the screen dialogue at any time and retrieve it for further completion later. The information you have entered will then be stored on our server (stored data is automatically deleted after 3 months), but will not be available to the recipient until you decide to submit the application.

When you choose to submit, you also consent to the recipient/data controller receiving and processing the information.

We also collect personal data about you from other public agencies, such as the National Population Register, the Contact and Reservation Register, the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV), the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), the Norwegian Tax Administration, the Brønnøysund Register Center, and the County Governor/State Administrator.

We may also collect information from publicly available sources, such as websites and social media.

You always have the right to know where we obtain information about you from. The individual service area is responsible for informing you about this. 

What personal data do we process?

We process information such as:

  • name, address, telephone number, email address
  • necessary to identify you, such as social security number, D number, gender, citizenship
  • relates to your relationships with others, such as the name of your spouse, cohabitant, children, marital status
  • health information, diagnosis, medication, etc.
  • is related to the services you use, such as daycare, school, building permits, waste collection, etc.
  • is needed in connection with being employed by the Longyearbyen local government, such as basic data, salary level, time registration, tax rate, tax municipality, and union membership, etc.

Read more about what is considered personal data on the Data Protection Authority's website. External link, opens in new window.

We protect the information in our registers in various ways, for example through firewalls and by controlling who has access to our buildings. We ensure that only those who have a legitimate purpose are given access to your information, and we monitor our employees' processing of personal data in our computer systems.

All employees of the Longyearbyen Local Authority undergo regular training in how to process personal data.

We have technical security solutions in place to ensure that:

  • Unauthorized persons do not gain access to your information.
  • Information about you is available when needed.
  • The information cannot be changed or manipulated after it has been registered.

In some cases, your personal data will be transferred to external recipients. These may include NAV, hospitals, courts, the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (in connection with exams or national tests), and others. All transfers are carried out in accordance with the legal basis provided by the Longyrearbyen local government. In some cases, laws and regulations provide the legal basis for transferring information to external recipients without informing the data subjects. An example of this is reporting to child welfare services.

When your personal data is processed in a specialist system located at an external supplier, the municipality has a data processing agreement with the supplier to regulate the security of the processing and ensure that privacy is protected in accordance with laws and regulations.

We always strive to ensure that your personal information is mainly handled within the EU/EEA. Should this not be the case, this is regulated in the data processing agreement.

We store your personal data for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

This means, for example, that we will delete personal data about you that we have because you have given your consent if you withdraw your consent. Personal data that we process in order to fulfill a legal obligation is stored for as long as the legal basis requires, for example, in accordance with the provisions of the Archives Act.

The right to access public information is a fundamental democratic principle enshrined in the Freedom of Information Act.

As a general rule, all our case documents are public and are published on our mailing lists. Under the Archives Act, External link, opens in new window. the Longyearbyen Local Council is obliged to keep a public mail register. All correspondence to and from the Longyearbyen Local Council must be recorded in the register. Documents containing sensitive information are exempt from public disclosure and marked with the relevant legal basis for the exemption.

These rules also apply to emails that are worthy of archiving. Therefore, do not send emails with information that you do not want to be made public.

The Longyearbyen Local Authority is the data controller.
The data protection officer is Anne Rakel Østli, who can be contacted via:
Email: personvernombud@lokalstyre.no
Phone: +47 79 02 21 50 (Citizen Service Center)
Visiting address: Næringsbygget, 9170 Longyearbyen
Postal address: PO Box 350, 9171 Longyearbyen 

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