Population Data Services News Today

In principle, online purchases can't be made with a stolen personal identity code, however, the more personal data hackers have accessed, the greater the risk.

The Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency has recently implemented new characters in the personal identity code system to ensure their adequacy for future needs. The first identity code featuring the new character Y was issued on December 19, 2023. This update comes as a response to the limited availability of identity codes for certain birth dates under the old system. Existing identity codes will remain unchanged.

According to the recent Digiturva Barometer by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, the sense of security among Finns in the digital environment remains high, with 85 percent considering the digital landscape to be at least moderately secure. However, 28 percent report a decline in trust in digital security over the past six months, driven by a significant rise in cybercrime and the introduction of new artificial intelligence services, which have generated interest but also skepticis...

Each and every Finn should know at least how to use e-mail, manage their own affairs in digital services, use passwords and identify themselves in services. This is reflected in the digital skills recommendations published by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The recommendations have been published as part of the programme of the Digital Skills Week that begins today. The topic of the week is Digital Courage. Digital courage is needed in order to transition to primarily providing ...

In 2022, Olivia and Leo were the most popular first forenames among Finnish-speaking children, Saga and Oliver among Swedish-speaking children, and Sofia and Adam among children of other languages. Since December, it has been possible to report the childs name to the Population Information System digitally, and currently 88 percent of childrens names are reported online. This speeds up and streamlines the processing at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. However, expert work is stil...

At the beginning of 2023, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences became one of the first Finnish higher education institutions to introduce an electronic service that enables the agile and reliable transfer of study credits completed abroad to be counted towards a Finnish degree. The reform paves way for cross-border digital public services. In the past, the credit transfer process has been laborious for students and higher education institutions, and it has relied heavily on paper documents ...

As of 13 February 2023, the Digital and Population Data Services Agencys bug bounty program will expand to cover Suomi.fi messages. In the program, the Agency cooperates with white hat hackers to identify potential security deficiencies in the services. The bug bounty program will continue until 30 April 2023. ‘At worst, the vulnerabilities of digital services lead to a successful data breach.

Already nearly one million voters will receive a notification of their right to vote in general elections electronically this year. The notification comes electronically to all those entitled to vote who use Suomi.fi Messages. However, not all recipients of an electronic notification remember or notice that they receive the notification electronically. "All eligible voters who use Suomi.fi Messages will receive a notification of their right to vote in the general elections in electronic for...

After a year in the country, refugees granted temporary protection can apply for local resident status and receive full access to all municipally-provided services.

Finns are among the worlds leading users of digital services. According to the recent Digital Skills Report, 79% of Finns have good digital skills, and as many as 84% feel that they will keep up to date with digitalisation in the coming years. In other words, our society has a good foundation for building digital services. Nonetheless, even skilled people often need support in using digital devices and services. The crucial question is how well one can apply and develop their own skills.