Sharing of social welfare client data

Social welfare service providers have the right to access the customer information that is required for organising or implementing the necessary social service for the customer. This applies to both public and private service providers. 

When a client does not have the prerequisites to assess the significance of the disclosure consent due to a memory disorder, mental health disorder or intellectual disability, for example, and they do not have a legal representative, social welfare service providers can also access the client data needed in client work from Kanta in situations where the client has not given a disclosure consent at all. 

If the client has previously given consent, set restrictions or submitted a negative consent, these customer’s expressions of will also affect the access to information in the above-mentioned situations.

When client data generated in purchased services is transferred between, for example, a wellbeing services county that organises the service and a private service provider, this is not considered a disclosure of data. This means that no consent is needed from the client, but the data is used under the right to access the register. 

For example, an employee of a wellbeing services county can view the client information entered by a private service provider in Kanta. Conversely, a private service provider can view the client data stored by the wellbeing services county that is necessary for providing the service.  

Read more about Social welfare register access rights – Kanta.fi(opens new window)

Social welfare and healthcare have their own sector-specific types of consent to data sharing. In other words, the client gives separate consent to sharing their patient data and their social welfare client data. 

In addition to the data stored in Kanta, other social welfare client data, such as paper documents, can also be shared with the client’s consent to data sharing. Data for which the client has set up a denial of consent to data sharing cannot be shared. Denials of consent set by the client must also be taken into account when data are shared by post or email, for example.

Even if the client has given their consent to data sharing, you cannot use Kanta to retrieve the following from another service provider’s data file

• any data subject to non-disclosure for personal safety reasons
• shelter services’ client data
• information related to a joint matter 
• documents in accordance with the first phase
• data recorded before the service provider joined Kanta as a user, known as ‘old client data’.

If you assess that a minor can make their own decisions about how their data are processed, please provide them with the information about the Kanta Services at the time of their appointment. 

A minor who has received the information about the Kanta Services can give or update their consent to sharing their social welfare client data when managing their affairs in social welfare services. They can also set denials of consent to the sharing of their data to determine which of their data may not be shared with e.g. another wellbeing services county or between public and private social welfare services.

A minor can only give their consent to data sharing or set denials of consent to data sharing when attending social welfare services appointments. They cannot do this in MyKanta. 

A minor can, if they wish, withdraw, amend and review the consent and denials of consent to data sharing set by their guardian.

Guardians and other persons entitled to be notified may give a consent to disclosure on behalf of their underage child if social welfare services have assessed that the child does not have the capacity to decide on the processing of their information.  

Guardians can change disclosure consents and set restrictions when using social welfare services. However, guardians cannot set up denials of consent to data sharing for data that the minor themselves has prohibited from being shared with their guardians.

In MyKanta, guardians can give their consent to the sharing of their child’s data if they have first received the information about the Kanta Services on the child’s behalf. However, guardians cannot set any denials of consent in MyKanta or withdraw consent to data sharing on behalf of their child.

Guardians can already give consent in MyKanta to share their child's social welfare client data. However, consent to data sharing can only be withdrawn at an appointment at the social welfare service provider. 

All social welfare service providers must have a system in place for processing consent to data sharing by 1 September 2026 at the latest.

If it is not yet possible to process consent to data sharing in the client information system you use, consent can be withdrawn at your request in Kela's Kanta Services.

Steps to follow:

1. First, assess whether the conditions for withdrawing consent to data sharing are met. In practice, a withdrawal of consent to data sharing means a denial of consent to data sharing of all data. Learn more about sharing the data of a minor in the Kanta Services handbook for social welfare actors (yhteistyotilat, in Finnish and in Swedish)(opens new window).
2. Once you have completed the assessment, please contact Kela by email at kanta@kanta.fi. In your message, please indicate that the matter pertains to the withdrawal of consent to sharing the social welfare data of a minor. You will receive a reply with more detailed instructions.

Data sharing between social welfare and healthcare services via Kanta will be possible by 1 March 2027 at the latest. Such data sharing will require separate consent to data sharing.