Privacy notice for the research information system UniartsCRIS

Published 19.8.2021 | Updated 10.8.2026

1. Controller

University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki)
Postal address: P.O. Box 1, 00097 Uniarts
Phone number: +358 294 47 2000 (switchboard)

2. Unit and person in charge of processing personal data

Head of Development Services Markus Torkkeli (Development Services), firstname.lastname@uniarts.fi, +358 294 47 2000 (switchboard)

3. Contact person for the processing of personal data

Planning Manager Helena Haimi (Development Services), system owner, etunimi.sukunimi@uniarts.fi, +358 294 47 2000 (switchboard)

4. Data protection officer

Find contact details for Uniarts Helsinki’s data protection officer on the data protection homepage.

5. Name of the register and brief description

Research information system UniartsCRIS

The research information system maintains data on research and artistic activities carried out by Uniarts Helsinki staff or researchers who are otherwise affiliated with the university (grant-funded researchers) and by doctoral students. Activities refer to publications, results of artistic activities, expert duties, teaching merits and international visits.

Data on research activities and artistic activities is public, excluding certain data that has been separately agreed on with the funder. The university uses the research data to pass on information about its research activities in accordance with good research practices and to provide the necessary research-related data to the Ministry of Education and Culture in accordance with section 51 in the Universities Act (558/2009).

6. Purpose and legal basis for the processing of personal data

Processing of personal data is based on a legal obligation in accordance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679):

When requested by the Ministry of Education and Culture, each university must provide the Ministry with the data necessary for the evaluation, development, statistics and other supervision and steering of education and research (section 51 in the Universities Act [558/2009]). In addition, the university processes, compiles statistics on and analyses data related to research activities and societal interaction in the public interest to carry out tasks in accordance with section 2 in the Universities Act.

• The university compiles statistics on and analyses data provided by the research information system to assess and develop its research activities.
• The research information system helps in compiling statistical reports needed for the assessment and development of the activities of the university and its units and in producing data for external reporting needs (data collected by the Ministry of Education and Culture).
• The research information system is used for presenting the university’s activities and for submitting information to national portals maintained by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling as referred to in the GDPR in our processing of personal data.

7. What data do we process?

Uniarts Helsinki processes the following personal data in connection with the research information system:

• Required personal data: Name and unit data, title, duration of the employment relationship, identification number assigned by the university, areas of expertise. The above-listed data is necessary for organising the university’s activities and putting the contractual relationship into effect.
• Optional data: ORCID ID, gender, degree, language skills, teaching field, docentship, research area, disclosed information, photograph.

Data connected with the expert includes:

• Publications.
• Artistic activities.
• Research activities (expert duties).
• Teaching merits.
• International visits.
• Conferences organised by Uniarts Helsinki.

8. Where do we get data?

Individuals save the results of their activities themselves.

In addition, Uniarts Helsinki gathers data from the following sources:

• The required personal data is transferred from Uniarts Helsinki’s personal data system (Mepco).
• Student data is retrieved from the Peppi student information system.

9. To which parties do we disclose or transfer data and do we transfer data outside the EU or the EEA?

Uniarts Helsinki discloses personal data to the following recipients:

• Publication data is shared with the Ministry of Education and Culture via the VIRTA publication information service, which passes on the data to the tiedejatutkimus.fi website.

No data is transferred outside the EU or the EEA.

10. How do we protect data and for how long do we store it?

As the controller, Uniarts Helsinki has taken the necessary technical and organisational measures and also requires the same from the service providers it uses.

Only those of our employees who are authorised to process the register data in their line of work are entitled to use the system containing personal data. The data is gathered in databases protected with firewalls, passwords and other technical means. The databases and their backup copies are situated in locked spaces, and the data can only be accessed by certain designated persons.

Personal data is stored for as long as is necessary for fulfilling the purpose for which it was collected and processed or for as long as is required by law or regulations. The storage period of archived data has been described in the university’s information management plan.

We store data that is not ordered to be archived in a manner that complies with the requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Publications and their meta data are stored permanently. Storing is based on the Act on Collecting and Preserving Cultural Materials (28.12.2007/1433).

11. What are your rights as a data subject?

Data subjects have the following rights:

• Right to have access to their data.
• Right to receive information on the processing of their personal data.
• Right to have erroneous or inaccurate personal data rectified.
  • If a data subject has access to their data, they can edit the data personally (https://www.uniarts.fi/cris) or they can send an email (cris@uniarts.fi).
• Right to have data erased.
  • Not applicable if the basis for processing is a statutory duty or a duty in the public interest.
• Right to restrict processing.
• Right to object processing i.e. to ask that data is not processed.
• Right to have data transferred from one system to another.
  • Applicable when the processing is based on an agreement or consent.
• Right to withdraw their consent.
  • Applicable when the processing is based exclusively on consent.
  • The withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Right to receive information on a personal data breach that results in a high risk.
• Right not to be subject to a decision based on automated processing.

Data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint especially to the supervisory authority of their permanent place of residence or work if they find that the processing of personal data violates the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679. Data subjects also have the right to employ administrative appeals and other legal remedies.

12. Who can you contact?

If you have any questions or comments about the processing of your personal data as described in this privacy notice, please contact the contact person mentioned in section 3, who will, if necessary, refer the matter to the data protection officer. If you consider that your rights set out in section 11 are not being fulfilled, you may contact the university’s data protection officer mentioned in section 4 directly.

13. Your responsibility

You are responsible for the data that you submit or make available to Uniarts Helsinki. You must make sure that the information is true and accurate and in no way misleading.

14. Amendments to the privacy notice

When this privacy notice is updated, the date of the new version will be edited to the beginning of the notice. If we make changes to the content, we may take appropriate steps to inform you in a manner consistent with the significance of the changes.