Schengen databases and data protection
The Schengen Area is a cooperation between 26 European countries and aims to ensure the free movement of persons within the Schengen Area. The member states are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary and the United Kingdom.
The cooperation relates to the abolition of personal checks at the borders between the Schengen countries, known as the internal borders. However, this calls for counter-measures to ensure the safety of citizens in the Schengen area, which involves cooperation with European law enforcement agencies in particular. In this regard, an information system has been set up to manage the information that is used in the cooperation between the countries.
Each state is responsible for the information it registers in the information systems.
The Data Protection Authority monitors compliance with the rules of the Schengen cooperation on the treatment of personal data in Iceland.
Registered individuals have the right to be informed about their identities in the systems. This right is the basis for individuals to corrected misinformation and misregistered information removed. This right is also guaranteed by the Schengen Regulation.
The data protection authorities of the Schengen countries provide information on how to handle a request for access in each country. If the controllers do not respond to a request for information, a complaint can be made to the data protection authority in that country, in Iceland that is the Icelandic Data Protection authority
The databases
SIS II (Law enforcement and border control)
In Iceland, the National commissioners office provides information on registrations in the Schengen Information System.
VIS (Visa)
In Iceland the information about registrations in the VIS is provided by the The Directorate of Immigration.
Eurodac (The Fingerprint Database)
In Iceland, the National commissioners office provides information on registrations in Eurodac.
Published material
A pamphlet has been published with key information about the databases.
