The Data Protection Act

1. We – The Data Controller

The Faroese Workers' Union (Føroya Arbeiðarafelag) is a trade union cooperation consisting of several independent local member unions. This means that when you become a member of one of the local member unions under the Faroese Workers' Union, you automatically also become a member of the Faroese Workers' Union, which acts as the umbrella organization in the cooperation.

As the umbrella organization, the Faroese Workers' Union is the data controller for the information we process about members. Consequently, the local member union is also a data controller for the information they hold about the member.

The Board

  • Elin Sørensen (Chairwoman)

  • Georg F. Hansen

  • Marjun S. Debes

  • Maud Túgvustein (vantar á myndini)

  • Hans Cecil Poulsen

  • Harry Benjaminsen

  • Jógvan Delmarson Kjærbo

For more information, visit fafelag.fo/um-felagid/

Member Unions

  • Arbeiðarafelagið Beinisvørð (Sumba)

  • Haldórsvíkar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðarafelagið Hæddin (Runavík)

  • Hósvíkar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðarafelagið Hov

  • Hvalvík-Streymnesar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðarafelagið Lýsing (Skála)

  • Hvannasunds Sóknar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðarafelagið Rubbishella (Porkeri)

  • Kalsoyar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðskvinnufelagið Drósan (Tvøroyri)

  • Kollafjarðar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðskvinnufelagið Fjallbrúður (Vágur)

  • LAGA (Gøta-Leirvík)

  • Arbeiðskvinnufelagið Roynd (Hvalba)

  • Miðvágs Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðsmannafelagið Roynd (Hvalba)

  • Oyndarfjarðar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðskvinnufelagið Vónin (Skopun)

  • Sandavágs Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðsmannafelagið Framtíðin (Vágur)

  • Sands Arbeiðarafelag

  • Arbeiðsmannafelagið Fylking (Tvøroyri)

  • Sørvágs Arbeiðarafelag

  • Eiðis Arbeiðarafelag

  • Sunda Sóknar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Fámjins Arbeiðarafelag

  • Tofta Arbeiðarafelag

  • Fiskepigernes Fagforening

  • Vestmanna Arbeiðarafelag

  • Fuglafjarðar Arbeiðskvinnufelag

  • Sjóvar Sóknar Arbeiðarafelag

  • Fuglafjarðar Arbeiðsmannafelag

  • Skopunar Arbeiðsmannafelag

For more information, visit fafelag.fo/limafelogini/

2. Contact Information

If you wish to know more about how we process your personal data, you can contact us in one of the following ways:

Contact Details
AddressStoffalág 17, 100 Tórshavn
Phone number31 21 01
Emailfafelag@fafelag.fo
Websitewww.fafelag.fo

3. Guiding Principles for Processing and Rights of the Data Subject

3.1 How we process personal data

If you are a member of the Faroese Workers' Union, we process a range of personal data about you. We do this to protect the interests of our members. Therefore, it is important that you trust us to process your personal data lawfully, fairly, and with full transparency, that we only process personal data limited to the specific purpose, and that our data processing limits the use of personal data as much as possible. We strive to ensure that our information is always as accurate as possible and stored for the shortest time possible. Furthermore, we emphasize that all personal data is processed in a manner that ensures integrity and confidentiality, and that the processing is responsible and compliant.

3.2 Why we process personal data

The main purpose of our processing of personal data is to ensure that we can best help protect and respect union rights. In addition, we also process personal data for other purposes, such as our discount scheme and insurance cooperation.

The discount scheme is in cooperation with SAMTAK, but we issue the cards to our members ourselves. SAMTAK therefore receives no personal data from the Faroese Workers' Union. The Faroese Workers' Union has chosen ALKA Forsikring as the provider of group life insurance for its members, as ALKA meets the requirements and wishes we have for customer service for our members and overall cooperation.

3.3 How long do we store personal data?

We store personal data for as long as you are a member of the Faroese Workers' Union, or for as long as we have a legal basis and deem it appropriate to store the information.

If you have been a member but are no longer, we store the information if we have a specific reason and legal basis to do so. This could be information regarding occupational injuries, a legal dispute with an employer, or similar matters that justify retaining information about you, even if you are no longer a member of the Faroese Workers' Union.

Furthermore, we may be bound to store information in accordance with special legislation other than the Data Protection Act for longer or shorter periods. This applies, among other things, to accounting records, which we must store for at least 5 years in accordance with the Bookkeeping Act.

3.4 What kind of personal data do we process?

If you are a member of the Faroese Workers' Union, we process both ordinary and sensitive personal data about you.

Our website uses cookies to collect the following information about you:

  • Type of device

  • Type of browser

  • Time zone

  • IP address

  • Which pages you visit

  • How you found our website

We process the following (ordinary) personal data as part of our union work:

  • Identification details: Name, age, gender, nationality, address, phone number, email, P-number (personal ID number), and member number.

  • Current and historical employment details.

  • Current and historical unemployment details.

  • Current and historical cases, disputes, and legal matters involving employers.

  • Information regarding insurance matters.

  • Membership fees or outstanding payments owed to us.

  • Inquiries and complaints.

In addition to ordinary personal data, we may also process sensitive personal data about members. This may occur as part of a dispute or complaint case that you have with an employer regarding dismissal or similar matters.

We may process the following sensitive personal data:

  • Trade union affiliation.

  • Information about health status, for example, if a member has suffered an occupational injury, is on sick leave, or similar.

  • Information about sexual orientation or sexual matters, for example, if a member has been subjected to discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace.

  • Information about religion, ethnic origin, or similar, for example, if a member has been subjected to discrimination.

  • Information regarding criminal offenses, for example, in connection with dismissals or warnings based on suspicions of criminal activity.

However, we generally only process sensitive personal data about members when the member has provided it to us themselves.

3.5 Consequences if you do not wish to provide the above personal data

Without identification details and a P-number, we are unable to offer you membership in the Faroese Workers' Union. It is optional whether a member wishes to use our services for advice and assistance regarding employment law matters, but if we do not know the reason for a dismissal, your current and historical employment conditions, or relevant sensitive personal data, we will not be able to provide the correct assistance and guidance.

3.6 What is our legal basis?

As a general rule, we process ordinary personal data based on the agreement made when you enroll in one of the local member unions under the Faroese Workers' Union. The processing of sensitive personal data is based on the specific rules and limitations laid down in current legislation for a legal entity such as a trade union.

This allows us, among other things, to share information between your local trade union and the umbrella organization, the Faroese Workers' Union.

The purpose of sharing information between the local trade unions and the umbrella organization in connection with enrollment is to enable us to carry out our union activities. This includes ensuring that members' rights are respected, providing advice and assistance if an employer infringes upon the rights of union members, and assisting union members in connection with their employment conditions or unemployment.

We primarily use the following legal bases:

  • The Data Protection Act § 8, subsection 1, no. 1.

  • The Data Protection Act § 8, subsection 1, no. 2.

  • The Data Protection Act § 8, subsection 1, no. 6.

  • The Data Protection Act § 12, subsection 1, no. 5.

3.7 Data Security

In addition to an internal IT security policy, the Faroese Workers' Union has established technical and organizational security measures designed to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of personal data. In this way, we ensure that your information is in safe hands with us.

3.8 Rights of the Data Subject

No.Rights of the Data SubjectIn plain language
1Right to fair data processingThe data subject has the right to have their data used only in ways they would reasonably expect.
2Right of accessThe data subject has the right to see all information held about them upon request.
3Right to rectificationThe data subject can demand that information about them be corrected.
4Right to be forgotten (erasure)The data subject must be deleted upon request, provided no statutory obligation prevents this.
5Right to restrict processingThe data subject can request to be excluded from certain types of processing, such as profiling or automated processing.
6Right to data portabilityThe data subject can have their data delivered to them in a portable format (file format or similar).
7Right to objectThe data subject can file a complaint against the organization if it does not comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act.

For further information, see www.dat.fo

3.9 Who is your information shared with?

The Faroese Workers' Union is the umbrella organization for all local member unions, and therefore information is shared between the local unions within the cooperation and the umbrella organization when necessary.

Situations may arise where we share information with your employer; however, it should be kept in mind that the Faroese Workers' Union always looks after its members' interests first and foremost.

In some instances, we are legally bound to share information with public authorities. This could, for example, be in connection with the handling of an occupational injury case where we must cooperate with the police or the judiciary. Furthermore, we also share information with Lívsverk and ALKA to the extent required to manage interests regarding pensions and insurance. We always request consent when this is required.

We also pass information to our auditors in connection with auditing the financial statements of the Faroese Workers' Union, and to lawyers if required in specific situations. Furthermore, we have data processing agreements in place with our IT equipment providers.

4. Right to Complain

Members have the right to complain to the Data Protection Authority (Dátueftirlitið) regarding our processing of personal data. This is done by contacting the Data Protection Authority, using the following contact information:

Contact Details for the Data Protection Authority
AddressTinganes, 110 Tórshavn
Phone number30 91 00
Emaildat@dat.fo
Websitewww.dat.fo