Right to information ― Guide for authorities when taking fingerprints for EURODAC

Asylum applicants and migrants apprehended at the external border have a duty to give their fingerprints. When their fingerprints are taken, persons have the right to understand who is processing their personal data and why. They have the right to know what data are stored and for how long. They should know how to access it, correct and erase their data, in case of mistakes and whom to contact for these purposes.

In practice, officers find it challenging to give information on all aspects of the data processing at the time when taking fingerprints. People are often unaware why they give their fingerprints and what happens to these.

Other language versions available:

• Icelandic
• Norwegian

Eurodac stands for European Asylum Dactyloscopy - it stores, processes and compares the fingerprints of asylum applicants and migrants apprehended at the external border. It helps to identify the EU Member State responsible to examine an asylum claim. In the future, besides fingerprints, it will store the name, the facial image and other personal data.

Information must be:

• provided at the time when fingerprints are taken;
• concise, transparent, comprehensible and in easily accessible format;
• written in clear and plain language, adapting this to the needs of vulnerable persons, such as children;
• provided, where necessary, orally;
• in a language that the person understands.

Source: Eurodac Regulation 603/2013 (Article 29), General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (Article 12).

• Make the European Commission’s standard leaflet on the Dublin procedure available in relevant languages.
• Develop easy-to-understand material (e.g. leaflets, videos, posters).
• Have the information available electronically and highly visible on the controller's website.
• Repeat information, for example through group information sessions.
• Supply some key information orally in a simple way (e.g. information tagged with the speaker symbol ).