Personal details in the Finnish Trade Register

The Finnish Trade Register is a register for public use. Anyone is entitled to obtain information about the entries made in the Finnish Trade Register, as well as the filed notifications and their enclosures.

The Finnish Trade Register contains personal details of nearly 1.6 million people.

Up until 2014, all the details filed with the Finnish Trade Register were public.

Trade Register extract indicates the company’s current details. Read more about Trade Register extracts.

What personal details are filed?

The following personal details are filed with the Finnish Trade Register:

• Full name
• Personal identity code
• Citizenship
• Municipality of residence

If the person does not have a Finnish personal identity code, give their date of birth instead. If the person lives abroad, give their home address instead of their municipality of residence.

In addition, the person’s role in the company, such as board member or managing director, is filed with the Finnish Trade Register as a personal detail.

According to the Trade Register instructions, personal identity codes and sensitive personal details must not be filed unless specifically requested and for a requested section.

In notifications filed on paper, personal identity codes must be filed on a separate personal data form intended only for authority use. The details filed on the personal data form are always secret.

What details may not be filed?

Below are examples of the details that may not be filed with the Finnish Trade Register:

• Personal identity codes, including foreign personal identity codes (filed on a non-public personal data form)
• Finnish or foreign home addresses (filed on a non-public personal data form)
• Health details (including any reference to sick leave, even though the reason for the sick leave is not disclosed)
• Other sensitive details
• Information on any trusteeship covering the person
• Information on the person’s non-disclosure for personal safety or details subject to the non-disclosure for personal safety
• Passport number, unless a passport copy is required for registering the notification. Passport copies submitted to the Finnish Trade Register are not public.
• Contact details intended as non-public
• Business secrets or other details that the company does not wish to be public

Strict procedures in the processing of notifications

The PRH has strict procedures for processing notifications in accordance with the data protection legislation as well as strict agreements with the parties using Trade Register information.

Read more about the processing and disclosure of personal data in the privacy statement for the Finnish Trade Register.

The PRH discloses details on the last four digits of the personal identity codes and home addresses of those living abroad from the Finnish Trade Register’s electronic data only if the requirements in section 16, subsection 3 of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are fulfilled. In other cases, the person’s country of residence is disclosed instead of the home address if the person lives abroad.

Read more in the privacy statement for the Finnish Trade Register.