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Aeronautical rescue service (ARCC)

Personal data processed

Whose personal data is processed by Air Navigation Services (who are the “data subjects”)?

  • Stakeholder representatives, owners of aircraft and distress beacons and ICE personnel, as well as people directly or indirectly associated with aviation accident response and search and rescue operations.  

Personal data provided to Air Navigation Services by a representative of a data subject or a data subject’s organisation

  • Contact details of the people in charge at airports and other identification data such as name, telephone number and organisation.

Personal data disclosed to Air Navigation Services by a third party

  • Information from the aircraft register and the register of ELTs maintained by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency: the owner's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, organisation, aircraft registration code, emergency transmitter ID and contact details and other identification data of ICE persons.
  • Air Navigation Services also processes personal data necessary for the execution of each particular search and rescue task and for the investigation of accidents; the nature of such personal data is determined on a case-by-case basis and the data might also contain sensitive data, such as the health data of persons who are the target of rescue operations.

Purpose of processing

Air Navigation Services processes personal data in order to maintain the readiness of the aeronautical rescue service and on a case-by-case basis to carry out search and rescue operations in accordance with section 153 of the Aviation Act, the regulations issued by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency and other applicable regulations. The basis for the processing of personal data is the fulfilment of Air Navigation Services’ legal obligations. 

For special categories of personal data, the processing of personal data is based on important grounds of public interest under Article 9(2)(g) of the General Data Protection Regulation, while the public interest is based on the Aviation Act and the regulations issued by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency on search and rescue operations by virtue of the Aviation Act. The processing of personal data that belongs to special categories of personal data is occasional and such processing is subject to special care and safeguards.

Retention periods of personal data

Air Navigation Services retains the contact details and other identifying information of persons in charge of airports for as long as those persons hold those positions.  Contact information obtained from Traficom's registers will be retained for as long as the information in the register remains unchanged. Personal data processed in connection with search and rescue services will be stored for a period that is appropriate for the investigation carried out by Air Navigation Services.