Eurodac is a European database that stores and compares information about certain groups of people who enter the EU+ countries. This page explains how we process your information when you are registered in Eurodac.
What is Eurodac?The Eurodac database is used by 31 EU+ countries who can process and retrieve your information. If you travel to another EU+ country without permission and your data is registered again, the information about you stored in Eurodac will be visible to the authorities in that country. In some cases, your data will be updated with new information.Norway is required to register information in the Eurodac database and use the information stored there. This obligation follows from Norway's agreements with the EU on which country is responsible for processing an asylum application and on Norway's participation in the EUs border cooperation (Schengen).Which countries use Eurodac? The EU+ countries use Eurodac. The EU+ countries are:
The 27 Member States of the European Union (EU): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
4 other countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Who is registered in Eurodac?Eurodac contains information about people who are not nationals of an EU+ country and who, in an EU+ country, has:
applied for international protection
crossed the border without permission
have been brought ashore after being rescued at sea
are staying illegally
arrived through an EU resettlement or humanitarian admission programme or national resettlement programme
have been granted temporary protection
Why are you registered in Eurodac?Eurodac has five main aims:
to help EU+ countries decide which country is responsible for examining an application for international protection
to help monitor authorised and unauthorised migration to EU+ countries
to share information between national authorities and prevent crime and terrorism
to make sure that children arriving in Europe can be traced and protected
to make sure other European databases containing information about matters such as visas work correctly
What information about you is registered in Eurodac?Information about your identity and other relevant information will be transferred to the Eurodac database in connection with your immigration case. This includes:
biometric data (your fingerprints and a photograph of you)
name
date of birth
place of birth
nationality
gender
copies of available identity and travel documents
When a new registration or an update is made in Eurodac, the system will automatically search the database through a national search portal (NESP), which then searches through a European search portal (ESP). These searches are recorded in audit logs. If there is a match, biometric experts will assess whether it is a genuine match. A match report will be stored for 10 years to document the work carried out.If you are subject to screening, have applied for asylum or are staying illegally, the police may carry out a security check on you. If the security check finds that you are armed or violent, or there are indications that you have been involved in a terrorist offence or may have committed a serious criminal offence for which you could be arrested in another EU+ country, it will be registered in Eurodac that you may pose a threat to internal security. If the EU+ countries no longer consider you a threat to internal security, this information will be deleted.To prevent unauthorised persons from accessing information about you, information about all activity in our systems is stored in audit logs. This means that user activity relating to your case is stored together with your case reference number.Who is responsible for your information when you are registered in Eurodac?The Norwegian Police, represented by the National Police Directorate, is responsible for collecting and processing your information while the police carry out the initial case processing. The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) is responsible for processing your information after the case has been sent to UDI for further processing.To make it easier for you to exercise your rights (see information further down), you may contact the
even when the Police is responsible.You may still contact the Police Data Protection Officer if you have questions about how your information is processed. The Data Protection Officer is independent and bound by a duty of confidentiality. You can contact the Data Protection Officer by email:
How long is your information stored?How long your information is stored depends on the specific group you belong to. As a general rule, the information is stored in the European Eurodac database for 5 years and is then deleted automatically. If you have applied for international protection, the information will be stored for 10 years.Match reports produced after searches in Eurodac are stored for 10 years to document the match assessments carried out.Audit logs containing user activity and the case reference number are deleted one year after the other information about you is deleted. Audit logs containing information about searches carried out through the national and European search portals (NESP and ESP) are stored for no more than one year.If you become a citizen of an EU+ country before the end of this period, the information will be deleted. Deletion of the information will not affect your status in the country where you have acquired citizenship. If a security check shows that you may pose a threat to internal security, this may be registered in Eurodac. This information will normally be stored for as long as the other information about you.However, the authorities must regularly check whether the information is still relevant. If you are no longer considered a possible threat, the information must be deleted. Before deleting it, the authorities must consult any other Member States that have registered the same information.Norway will use information from your immigration case to register you in Eurodac. Information about the processing of your personal data in connection with an immigration case is available in
.Who is your information shared with?The national asylum authorities in the EU+ countries register your biometric data and transfer it, together with other relevant information, to Eurodac. They also receive the result of the comparison.The Eurodac database is used by 31 EU+ countries who can process and retrieve your information. If you travel to another EU+ country without permission and your data is registered again, the information about you stored in Eurodac will be visible to the authorities in that country.In addition, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and national police authorities may request access for the purpose of preventing, detecting and investigating serious crimes and terrorism. They may search for your information in Eurodac.The authorities in your home country will not be able to access this information.Your data protection rightsYou have several rights relating to the processing of your personal data. Read more about
. Some rights apply only under certain conditions. For example, access to information about whether you have been registered as a possible threat to internal security may be restricted in accordance with the conditions set out in data protection law and national law.Contact the
. Complaint to the national supervisory authorityYou can use the information below to contact the national supervisory authority in Norway.You may lodge a formal complaint with the national supervisory authority if you believe that any of your personal data has been processed unlawfully.In Norway, you have the right to lodge a complaint with
.You can contact the Norwegian Data Protection Authority's guidance service by telephone on +47 22 39 69 00.LegislationThe immigration authorities process information about you in Eurodac on the basis of Norway's obligations under the Eurodac Regulation (EU) 2024/1358. This is an EU legal act that Norway has incorporated into section 101 of the Immigration Act, which you can read here. You can read the Eurodac Regulation in various languages here.
The use of information from your immigration case to register you in Eurodac has a legal basis in section 17-7a, second paragraph, of the Immigration Regulations, cf. section 83a, third paragraph, of the Immigration Act. Information about the legal basis for processing your personal data in connection with an immigration case is available in
.The legal basis for the security check varies depending on group you belong to. For people undergoing screening, the legal basis is Articles 15 and 16 of the Screening Regulation. For asylum applicants, it is Article 16(4) of the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation, while for people staying illegally it is Article 23(3)(e) of the Eurodac Regulation.
