Processing of personal data in communication

Purpose of processing personal data

Customs' Communications is responsible for media communications, web communications, visual identity, diversification of corporate identity and reputation management in various channels. Customs' Communications is entrusted with giving a true image of Customs’ activities and services, maintaining appreciation for Customs among the general public and representatives of interest groups and facilitating transactions between Customs and private persons as well as businesses. Customs' Communications is also responsible for the internal translation and interpretation operations of Customs. Furthermore, Customs' Communications contributes to the documentation and archiving of Customs’ activities.

Customs' Communications processes personal data for the purpose of performing its tasks in the following cases:  

  • in the context of sending and distributing newsletters, press releases, customer notices and disruption notices 
  • in connection with the organising of various events for invited guests and informing about them 
  • in connection with surveys, telephone interviews and workshops carried out for the purpose of development of services of Customs’ Communications 
  • in connection with competitions organised by Customs' Communications 
  • in the context of documentation and archiving of Customs’ activities
  • in the context of hosting and developing the Tulli.fi website (cookies). 

Processing personal data in the context of newsletters, press releases, customer notices and disruption notices is necessary for carrying out Customs’ communication function. Processing is based on the public interest (Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph e). Also the processing of personal data used in connection with official documentation and archiving of Customs’ activities is based on the public interest (Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph e). Personal data of persons participating in surveys or in the development of services of Customs’ Communications and competitions are processed based on consent of the participating persons, as well as cookies of web services (Article 6 paragraph 1 subparagraph e). Personal data of participants of events arranged by Customs are processed based on consent of the participating persons. 

Categories of personal data

The e-mail address of the recipient is needed for the purpose of sending newsletters, press releases, customer notices and disruption notices. The newsletters are also subject to monitoring, which shows how many of the recipients have opened the letter.
The following data is processed in order to inform about events for invited guests and organize these events: name of the participant, email address, other necessary contact information and, when applicable, information on diet.

The following data is processed in order to implement surveys and develop services of Customs’ Communications: name, email address and telephone number of the participant, and information given by the participant by telephone or at an event, that may contain personal data. 

The following data is processed in the context of organization of competitions: name, address, telephone number, email address and age of the participant. 

Documentation and archiving of Customs’ activities entails processing of data on identifiable persons in the photographs indicating the location where the photograph was taken and the time when it was taken and, when applicable, their names. Further information on taking photographs and making video recordings by Customs.

The IP address of the user is recorded within the tulli.fi website’s cookies. The purposes for the use of the cookies are described in the terms of use.

Sources of personal data

The customers themselves transmit their email addresses when they sign up to receive a newsletter or a notice or register to take part in development of services of Customs’ Communications or competitions. 

Organization of the events for invited quests entails gathering data from the customer registers and also from the interest groups’ own open sources and from Custom’s internal registers containing data on Customs’ personnel. 

Customs takes photographs and films videos of its activities and events, in which Customs is involved. 

Regular disclosure of personal data

Personal data held by Customs' Communications will not be disclosed for the purpose of direct marketing nor for the purpose of opinion polls or market research, unless a special provision on disclosure for this purpose so prescribes.  

In the distribution of newsletters and disruption notices Customs' Communications uses personal data processors, with whom contracts within the meaning of Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation have been concluded. 

As a rule, the implementation of all of the cloud services used by Customs' Communications takes place entirely within the EU. Data of the analytics service Hotjar is located in the EU, while some of the technical support processes work in the United States. Customs has ensured sufficient personal data protection by agreeing on the processing with the service provider i.e. the processor. Further information on data protection in Hotjar.

Personal data storage and disposal times

Subscribers can whenever unsubscribe to the newsletters and notices or withdraw their consent to receiving customer surveys via the link in the email message. Their email addresses will then be deleted from the mailing list.

The email address of a subscriber to the newsletter service will be deleted from the service provider’s system seven days after the cancellation. 

Personal data of the persons participating in the development of services of Customs’ Communications will be deleted after the end of their described purpose of use. The persons involved are notified of the maximum data retention period whenever data is gathered. However, data is retained for no more than two years.

Materials involved in a competition are retained for a maximum period of one year.

The procedure of processing data gathered by the feedback form is described in the Privacy statement for Customer Services

Contact person of the controller and additional information:
Mervi Korpiaho
viestinta(at)tulli.fi