The Schengen Cooperation
The Schengen Area is an area without inner borders. The co-operation is between 26 European countries that aims to ensure the free movement of people within the Schengen Area. The member states are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Securing its shared boarders, the Schengen area relies on common rules covering external borders and is currently made up of three essential systems to protect the Schengen Area: SIS II, VIS and Eurodac.
About the Schengen Information System (SIS II)
The Schengen Information System SIS II is a large-scale information system (consisting of both central and a national system) that facilitates cooperation between national border control, customs, and police authorities in the Schengen Area.
The main purpose of SIS is to make Europe safer, to ensure a high level of security within the Schengen States in absence of internal border checks, by allowing law enforcement authorities to enter and consult information, so-called alerts, on persons and objects. A SIS alert contains information about a particular person or object and clear instructions on what to do when the person or object has been found.
The SIS database contains information about:
- Individuals who are the subject of an arrest, warrant or extradition request.
- Individuals who are wanted by the authorities for some other reason.
- Individuals who are not entitled to enter or stay in the Schengen Area.
- Individuals who have been reported missing.
- Lost or stolen items, such as motor vehicles, vehicle registration plates or identity documents.
Specialized national SIRENE Bureaux located in each member state serves as a single point of contact for the exchange of supplementary information and coordination of activities related to SIS alert. The Icelandic SIRENE Bureaux operates within the office of the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police (NCIP).
Your rights as registered in SIS
Access to information in the SIS
If you are registered in the SIS system, you have the right to be informed about processing of your personal data in SIS II database. You can ask for information about what has been recorded about you or items you own. If the data is entered by another Schengen State, the NCIP needs to cooperate with the Schengen State to handle the request.
No access to information in the SIS
Access to information in the database may be refused if certain exceptions apply, notably on the grounds of national security, defense, public security and the prevention, investigation, detection, and prosecution of criminal offence or to protect the interest of others.
How to request access
If you want to know which personal data are processed in the SIS II, you can make a relevant request to NCIP which is responsible for the processing of personal data in SIS on behalf of Iceland.
Request access to information processed about you in SIS
In Iceland
The request can be submitted to NCIP or the next police station in Iceland in person, or by sending a letter or email:
Ríkislögreglustjóri/ National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police
Skúlagata 21
105 Reykjavík
Iceland
Att. SIRENE office
Email: rls@rls.is
To get access you need to present a valid proof of identity to the NCIP or next police station in Iceland, and where applicable, a copy of the legal authorization to represent the applicant.
A decision on your application will be made as soon as possible. You should receive a reply no more than 30 days after we have received your request.
In other Schengen country
You can request access in any Schengen country, by contacting the authorities responsible for the quality of the information registered in the SIS II. You can find all the National Supervisory Authorities and their contact details in the Guide for exercising the right of access.
Outside Schengen
If you are currently outside the Schengen Area, you can contact the consulate of any Schengen country in the country you currently live.
Requesting correction or deletion
You can ask us to correct any information that is wrong or incomplete. You can ask us to delete any incorrect and wrongful information in the SIS II. Before we can consider your request to correct or delete information held in the SIS database, you must first have been given access to or been notified about the information concerned.
You can send your request to the NCIP or the authority that decided that the information should be recorded.
Complaints
If you want to complaint about the processing of personal data about you, you can contact the Icelandic Data Protection Authority.
Persónuvernd / Data Protection Authority in Iceland
Rauðarárstíg 10,
105 Reykjavík
Iceland
Email: postur@personuvernd.is
Furthermore, any person may bring an action before the national courts to consider the case.
Compensation
A special notice is made to Article 55 of The Icelandic Act on The Schengen Information System No. 51/2021 that entails information on the right of a person to compensation following inadmissible processing of data about them. The person concerned may file a request for compensation with the court or authorities responsible under the national law of the Schengen state where the request is made, provided that an alert relating to them has been processed unlawfully in the SIS.
In Iceland the request for compensation must be submitted to the Office of the Attorney General (Civil affairs), websit: Ríkislögmaður – rikislogmadur.is
Read more about the Schengen Information System
The Guide for exercising the right of access adopted by the SIS II Supervision Coordination Group
About the Visa Information System (VIS)
The Directorate of Immigration provides information on registration in the VIS system.
The Visa Information System (VIS) allows Schengen states to exchange visa data. It consists of a central IT system and of a communication infrastructure that links this central system to national systems. VIS connects consulates in non-EU countries and all external border crossing points of Schengen States. It processes data and decisions relating to applications for short-stay visas to visit, or to transit through, the Schengen Area. The system can perform biometric matching, primarily of fingerprints, for identification and verification purposes.
The police have access to the information to verify that a person presenting a visa is its rightful holder and to identify persons found on the Schengen territory with no or fraudulent documents.
About the EU Asylum Fingerprint Database – EURODAC
Eurodac stands for European Asylum Dactyloscopy and is a central database for the fingerprints of asylum seekers to help the national authorities process asylum applications.
The Eurodac Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 established an EU asylum fingerprint database. When people apply for asylum, no matter where they are in the EU, their fingerprints will be registered and transmitted to the Eurodac central system.
When you apply for asylum in Iceland, is must be determined in accordance with the rules in the Dublin Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 whether it is Iceland or another EU country that must process your asylum application.
Why are fingerprints collected?
The police take your fingerprints to see which country is responsible to decide whether you have a right to stay or not. If you move to another EU country without authorization, you risk being sent back to the country where you first registered.
Obligation to give fingerprints
It is an obligation for all asylum applicants and migrants over 14 years of age to allow fingerprints to be taken. If you do not allow your fingerprints to be taken, you may be detained.
The police processing of personal data
In some cases, the police may process your personal data and fingerprints for purpose other than asylum application processing. This is done, for example, when it is necessary to precent criminal offenses and to protect against threats to public security.
Forwarding to other recipients
In connection with the processing of asylum applications, the NCIP pass on your personal information to the Directorate of Immigration in Iceland, which is the authority that makes the decision on whether you will be granted an asylum.
The NCIP also pass on your fingerprints to the central Eurodac database, which is used to compare fingerprints of asylum seekers. The central Eurodac unit in Brussels, is responsible for the operation of the central Eurodac database.
What information is stored by Eurodac?
Ten digital fingerprints, the gender, the country, fingerprinting, the place, and date of the asylum application (if applicable).
How long are fingerprints kept in the Eurodac database?
Eurodac stores fingerprints for a limited time:
- Asylum seekers for 10 years
- Irregular migrants for 18 months
After this time, the Eurodac automatically deletes the data.
Fingerprints are erased if you receive a residence permit in any member country.
Your rights as registered in Eurodac
The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police is responsible for the police processing of personal data in Eurodac on behalf of Iceland. If you are registered in the Eurodac, you have the right to access and obtain a copy of the data and to correct incorrect data and delete unlawfully registered data.
The request can be submitted to the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police:
Ríkislögreglustjóri/ National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police
Skúlagata 21
105 Reykjavík
Iceland
Att. SIRENE office
Email: rls@rls.is
A decision on your application will be made as soon as possible. You should receive a reply no more than 30 days after we have received your request.
If you want to complain
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) is the supervisory authority of the Central Unit (Eurodac), while the national data protection authorities are responsible for supervision of the use of Eurodac in the respective Member States.
If you want to complain about the processing of personal data, you can contact the Icelandic Data Protection Authority which is responsible for the supervision of registrations and other processing of personal data.
Persónuvernd / Data Protection Authority in Iceland
Rauðarárstíg 10,
105 Reykjavík
Iceland
Email: postur@personuvernd.is
More information
You can read more about Eurodac on the following websites:
The website of the Eurodac Supervision Coordination Group
General privacy statements
You can read more about your data subject rights and information about your rights in general privacy statements:
General privacy statement of the Police in Iceland
General privacy statement of the Directorate of Immigration
Contact information of the NCIP data protection officer
If you have any questions or complaints about processing of your personal data, you are always welcome to contact our data protection officer.
- By email: personuvernd@logreglan.is
- By letter to National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police: Ríkislögreglustjóri, Skúlagata 21, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland, for the attention of „data protection officer“.
Website of The Icelandic Data Protection Authority
Here is a link to the website of The Icelandic Data Protection Authority:
