Data stores
Data stores are administrative entities that consist of data sets. The Data stores list records information for which the organization acts as the data controller, meaning the organization decides on their usage. A data store is an entity composed of data sets. For example, a customer register could be a data store consisting of data sets that contain customer information.
Data stores can be named generally based on the purpose of the data usage. For example, 'Customer Information' or 'Customer Register' could be the name of an individual data store. Under this, different data sets can further specify information needed for clearly different tasks.
In the data store card, there is a section titled 'Does the data store contain case management or service information management data?' The selection in this section affects the visibility of the data store in the description. By selecting 'No' here, it can be indicated, for example, that the data store contains only internal information and therefore does not need to appear in the descriptions.
The information in data stores may be located in several different information systems or in various forms, e.g. some digitally and some on paper. Data systems in data stores become visible once data sets have been named and systems have been linked to them.
Data sets
There can be many data sets with the same name in different data stores. For example, a 'personal data' data set can be used separately by many different data stores.
Data sets provide detailed information about a larger entity, the data stores. Under a data store, you can specify information needed for different tasks as data sets.
Related data systems are linked to the data set.
Data systems
By definition, an data system is a system composed of people, hardware, and software. A data system is designed for processing specific information.
On each data system's documentation card, the data systems where this data is stored and processed are linked.
The information of the data system is described in more detail by the related data sets. The data set describes what kind of information is processed in the data set and the data system.
Data system nickname
The nickname of the data system can be used when you don’t want the official name of the system to appear on a public report. The nickname will include the data system's name, such as Netvisor, while the system itself could be referred to as for example the time tracking system.
Main and sub data stores
The optional additional field 'Related main data store' is visible only in the Finnish Tiedonhallintalaki framework.
Main and sub data stores are optional activatable data stores that are especially utilized by municipalities in embeddable reports. Main and sub-data repositories can be activated under the 'edit data fields' option.
External data stores
An external data stores refers to a data source primarily used for retrieving information managed by others or for forwarding information. For example, a service from the tax administration is a data system designed for interacting with them. In this case, it is not the organization's own data system, and responsibilities such as data controller duties lie with other parties. If an external service is actively used and a dataset for which the organization is responsible is created there, it should be treated as a data system. For example, academic records might form a data system, whereas generally, government e-services are not considered systems.
The list of external data stores records the information managed by clients that the organization processes, for example, during a research project. In these cases, aspects like contract practices, such as methods for data protection and data deletion processes, are more pertinent than detailed documentation of what information is contained or how it is used. The organization has likely already agreed on these aspects with clients through contracts.
Asset inventory
Asset inventory is formed by many different documentation lists. The most important ones are:
- Data systems
- Data stores (big datasets, e.g. Customer information)
- Data sets (more detailed datasets, e.g. Customer billing information)
- Locations
- Other protected assets (e.g. physical equipment)
Example case
When starting work with data stores, data sets, and data systems, it might be easiest to begin by outlining the data stores. Once you have an understanding of the larger entities, it becomes easier to consider the lower levels, the data sets, and their interconnections. Finally, you can specify the data systems.
Data store: Personnel data store (all information organization handles or gathers)
- Data stores are big sets, and the information can be in many places and in many forms
- We recommend not to have too many data stores
Data set: Working time information (when each has been at work)
- Multiple different data sets in one data store
- Data sets are more detailed information in relation to data stores
Data system: Time tracking system
- The system that is used, e.g. Netvisor
- There can be many data systems
