Processing of personal data by the Prosecution Service

The Prosecution Service works with the police to combat and prosecute crime. We also initiate sentence enforcement and we supervise the processing of criminal cases by the police service and consider complaints against police investigations and case administration.

We process information about individuals (personal data) in criminal proceedings and other cases in the administration of criminal justice, etc. We do this in compliance with the Act on Processing of Personal Data by Law Enforcement Authorities (Act no. 410 of 27 April 2017). We process such data when it is necessary to prevent, investigate, uncover or prosecute criminal offences, or we do it to enforce criminal law sanctions or ensure protection from or prevent threats against public security. Finally, we process information when supervising the police’s handling of criminal proceedings or considering complaints and claims for compensation associated with police investigations and case processing work.

In addition, we process personal data when necessary for other reasons in order to observe a legal obligation resting upon us or to carry out duties for the benefit of society. In that connection, we process data in conformity with the rules of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation 2016/679) and the Data Protection Act (Act no. 502 of 23 May 2018 on Provisions to Supplement the EU General Data Protection Regulation).

A common requirement of the Law Enforcement Data Processing Act, the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act is that the Prosecution Service may only process information about racial or ethnic origin, political, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership or genetic and biometric data for the purpose of obtaining unique identification of a natural person, data concerning health  or data about a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation where it is strictly necessary to attain the purposes referred to above.  Such information is referred to as special categories of data.

When we process personal data, we do it in our IT systems, for example our case processing system.
 

Disclosure of information

The Prosecution Service discloses personal data to the police and the courts, the Directorate of the Prison and Probation Service, the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities on an ongoing basis when it is required for the delivery of our general services, for example if we have to disclose information as a consequence of current legislation.

In addition, the Prosecution Service discloses personal data to our data processors who assist with the operation and administration of our computer systems.
 
In certain cases, the Prosecution Service also discloses information to private-sector actors and foreign authorities and organisations.
 

Legal framework

We chiefly process information when performing the duties that follow from the Administration of Justice Act, including Parts 10 and 93a of the Act. Moreover, we process data for purposes including the tasks that follow from the Act on Restraining, Exclusion and Removal Orders, the Extradition Act and other legislation and regulations on international cooperation as well as the Act on Measures to Prevent Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.

We also process information when, for example, you submit an application for access to documents on public files or contact us in other contexts.
 

Your rights

The Law Enforcement (Data Processing) Act, the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act give you (“the data subject”) a number of rights. They appear from Parts 4 -7 and 22 of the Law Enforcement (Data Protection) Act and Chapter 3 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation and Part 6 of the Data Protection Act.

Your rights are described in a short format below.

As a general rule, you have the right to receive confirmation if you ask whether we process data concerning you. This is called your right of access and means you are also entitled to have access to the information and receive notice particularly of:

• the purpose and legal basis of the processing of your data,

• the categories and origin of the information,

• the names of recipients of the information, if any,

• the period or criteria for the storing of the information.

Your right to gain access to the information may be postponed to a later point, restricted or denied entirely, if we assess that your right should be set aside to safeguard other
public or private interests, including to

• avoid obstruction to official or legal inquiries, investigations or procedures,

• prevent prejudice in the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of criminal offences or the enforcement of criminal law sanctions,

• protect public security,

• protect the security of the State or

• protect your own rights or the rights of others.

For the same reasons, there may also be cases in which we cannot inform you if we are processing data concerning you,
You may also object to the processing of information about you and request that:

• inaccurate information is rectified,

• incomplete information is made complete,

• information be deleted, for instance if it has not been processed correctly,

• processing of information should be restricted, for example, if you do not think the information is correct.

You are entitled to receive a written, reasoned decision if we postpone, restrict or deny your right to access to information or if your request for rectification, deletion or restriction of processing is denied.
 

Whom do you have to contact

Communications concerning the processing of personal data in the central prosecution service should be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The central prosecution service comprises the following entities:

• The Director of Public Prosecutions

• The State Prosecutor for Copenhagen (SAK)

• The State Prosecutor for Viborg (SAV)

• The State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime (SØIK)
  (SØIK also performs certain data processing operations for which SØIK itself or the National Commissioner of Police may be the data controller).

The Director of Public Prosecutions has the following contact details:

Director of Public Prosecutions
Frederiksholms Kanal 16
1220 Copenhagen K
Telephone: 72 68 90 00, e-mail: rigsadvokaten@ankl.dk

In addition to the central prosecution service, each of Denmark’s 12 police districts has a local prosecution service. You have to send communication concerning the processing of personal data by the local prosecution service to the Director of Public Prosecutions or the relevant local police district.
If you feel in doubt as to the police district that will be relevant in your case, you may contact the office of the National Commissioner of Police. You may read more about their processing of personal data at the website of the national police: www.politi.dk.
 

Data protection officer

The Director of Public Prosecutions has appointed a data protection officer for the central prosecution service, who will be consulted in all matters of personal data protection. The data protection officer’s responsibility is to provide advice to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the other entities of the central prosecution service and the staff on correct and secure processing of personal data, taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of the data subjects and other individuals concerned. The data protection officer collaborates with the Data Protection Agency and serves as the Data Protection Agency’s contact point at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The data protection officer can give you more detailed information about the data protection rules. The data protection officer may also provide you with guidance on your rights relative to the processing of personal data and tell you what authorities you have to contact if you want to exercise your rights.

You may read more about the data protection officer’s functions in section 31 of the Law Enforcement (Data Processing) Act and Article 39 of the EU General Data Protection Regulations.

The data protection officer at the Director of Public Prosecutions is:

Anna Alexandra Pontoppidan
Director of Public Prosecutions
Frederiksholms Kanal 16
1220 Copenhagen K
Telephone: 72 68 90 00, email: databeskyttelsesraadgiver@ankl.dk
 

Complaints procedure

The Data Protection Agency is the supervisory authority for personal data processing. You may file a complaint to the Data Protection Agency about our decisions concerning your right of access etc. and our processing of personal data concerning you.
 
You are also entitled to let the Data Protection Agency exercise your rights in relation to the processing of your data if we have made a decision not to comply with or to postpone, restrict or deny your rights according to sections 4 – 6 of the Law Enforcement (Data Processing) Act.
 
You may read more about the Data Protection Agency and see the Agency’s guidelines on your rights as a data subject and your access to file complaints etc. at the Data Protection Agency’s website: www.datatilsynet.dk.

The Data Protection Agency’s contact details are:

Data Protection Agency, Borgergade 28, 5. 1300 Copenhagen K,
Telephone: 33 19 32 00, e-mail: dt@datatilsynet.dk