CIMES - Finland

Access to microdata for scientific purposes
in European countries

Access to microdata for scientific purposes in Finland

flag of finland

Contact

Name of the microdata access service

Tilastokeskus (Statistics Finland)

Postal address

FI-00022 Statistics Finland (Finland)

Email

info@stat.fi

Website

http://www.stat.fi/index_en.html

Access conditions

General conditions

Statistics Finland provides microdata for research use. Data with possibility for indirect identification are available only for secure remote access or use at the onsite safe centre (Research Laboratory). Licences, the data, their tailoring and remote access are subject to charge. Statistics Finland's Research Services grant licences for micro data.  

It is possible to release to an organisation cause of death data (data derived from the death certificate) or data on age, sex, education, occupation and socio-economic group. The condition for releasing data is that releasing of data in identifiable form is necessary for the research and a data protection description concerning the data must be submitted to Statistics Finland for viewing (account/description of the processing of the data). 

Service data files in which the possibility for indirect identification has been removed can also be released to an organisation.

Conditions for non-resident researchers

Researcher from EU and non-EU countries whose level of data protection has been recognised as sufficient by the European Commission can apply for a licence to use data. For remote access use from abroad, the research project must be connected with a Finnish organisation. In addition, it must be mentioned in the user licence that use takes place abroad. For the released data, the personal identity codes are never released abroad.

Conditions for students

Students can obtain microdata for statistical analyses.

Legal framework

Statistics Act 280/2004, Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679), Data protection Act (1050/2018) and Statistics Finland Act (48/1992).

How much does it cost?

See Pricing of research data and services: https://stat.fi/tup/tutkijapalvelut/tutkimusaineistojen-ja-palveluiden-…

How long does it take to obtain data?

The time of processing depends on the extent and complexity of the data used in the research project. In simpler cases, such as in applications for ready-made and cause of death data, the processing of a user licence takes one to two weeks. Tailoring is more complex and will take longer to process. In more demanding cases several months must be reserved for processing. In demanding cases the application for a user licence may be referred to the Board of Statistical Ethics. The Board meets approximately once a month. When the request is for extractions or sample data that are complex or contain sensitive personal information, data preparation may take considerably longer.

Information on access

For further details: https://stat.fi/tup/tutkijapalvelut/index_en.html

Other

Statistics Finland Act: https://stat.fi/media/uploads/org_en/lainsaadanto/statisticsfinlandact_2023.pdf

Acts on the Openness of Government Activities: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/1999/en19990621_20150907.pdf

Data Protection Act: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/2018/en20181050.pdf

General Data Protection Regulation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj

Statistics Act: https://stat.fi/meta/lait/statistics-act-2802004_en.html

Application process: https://stat.fi/tup/tutkijapalvelut/kayttoluvan-hakeminen-ja-lupamuutokset_en.html

Prices: https://stat.fi/tup/tutkijapalvelut/tutkimusaineistojen-ja-palveluiden-hinnoittelu_en.html 

Types of microdata available in Finland

Access to microdata by type of person

 

Public Use Files

Scientific Use Files

Secure Use Files

Public

Yes

N/A

N/A

Students

Yes

Yes

Yes

PhD students

N/A

Yes

Yes

Researchers

N/A

Yes

Yes

Foreign researchers

N/A

Yes

Yes

Modes of access by microdata type

 

Public Use Files

Scientific Use Files

Secure Use Files

Online access

Yes

No

No

For download

Yes

Yes

No

Onsite access

No

Yes

Yes

Remote access

No

Yes

Yes

Remote execution

N/A

N/A

N/A

 

Microdatasets available for Finland

Other access points in Europe

Disclaimer

The pages above provide information on microdata disseminated at the national level by the statistical institutes in the European countries and on microdata disseminated by Eurostat.  The pages describe the data and the procedures for requesting access as well as the available types of microdata files (Public Use Files, Scientific Use Files, and Secure Use Files).

This information was initially collected by CASD/GENES for the CIMES database developed for Data without Boundaries project (funded by the 7th Framework Programme, the EU's research funding programme between 2007 and 2013). CIMES stands for Centralising and Integrating Metadata from European Statistics. Various organisations (ADP, CED, CNRS-Réseau Quetelet, FORS, GESIS, RODA, ONS, and UL) contributed to the creation of CIMES by collecting and structuring the metadata for the period of the Data without Boundaries project (2011-2015). In 2021, Eurostat moved the CIMES database to the CROS platform to facilitate updates of countries' information. Eurostat would like to thank all CIMES developers, especially CASD, for sharing the CIMES database and for all efficient collaboration.