The Directorate of Labour is responsible for all the processing of personal data that is carried out by the Directorate is according to law.

The Agency is required to work with personal data of individuals in order to perform its statutory tasks.

The Directorate of Labour has high standards for security in the processing of personal data and that information is kept confidential and in accordance with laws, regulations and its own security policy.

In this privacy policy, you can access information on the treatment of personal data by the Directorate of Labour. Further information can also be accessed in the Directorate of Labour's data collection and processing register.

Personal data processed may include:

The Directorate of Labour obtains information from among others:

• the applicant himself,

• employers,

• pension funds,

• trade unions,

• other government agencies such as the Directorate of Internal Revenue, the Social Insurance Administration, the Directorate of Immigration, educational institutions, the Education Fund, the Icelandic Health Insurance and customs authorities.

• other public or private bodies

Processing file

According to EU Regulation (2018/679, Article 30) on data protection, each controller and processor must keep a record of their processing activities.

Processing is done both manually and automatically. The following list is a summary of the main processing of personal data at the Directorate of Labour.

Access to personal data of individuals?

Employees of the Directorate of Labour work with personal data and only when it is necessary for the tasks they carry out.

All employees of the institution are bound to confidentiality of everything they receive knowledge of in their work. The obligation of confidentiality is maintained even if an employee leaves his/her post. Service providers who work for the institution's benefit and have access to personal data are also bound to confidentiality.

The Directorate of Labour shall provide personal data to other public bodies if and when required by law. The provision of personal data to private parties shall always be based on the authorization of the law or the consent of the person concerned. Examples of the provision of personal data to private parties include the transmission of a job seeker's CV to employers in connection with employment services and services to job seekers.

Data retention period

The Directorate of Labour is a data-collection authority under the law No. 77/2014 on public archives. According to the law, the Directorate of Labour is obliged to keep personal data collected in the Directorate’s documents for 30 years, after which the documents are delivered to the National Archives.

The rights of the registered

A person has the right to know what information is kept about him/her at the Directorate of Labour and to have access to that information.

A person may have the right to have incorrect personal data about him/her corrected and in certain cases, a person may have the right to have the processing of personal data about him/her by the Directorate of Labour limited.

As the Directorate of Labour is bound by the law to keep all information received from public archives, individuals do not have the right to have their personal data deleted. However, individuals may object to the processing of their personal data when the Directorate processes such personal data on grounds of public interest, i.e., legal authority, or in the exercise of public authority.

Inquiries or suggestions regarding the processing of personal data at the Directorate of Labour shall be sent by e-mail to or by phone to 515 4800.

If an individual believes that the processing of personal data by the Directorate of Labor is not in accordance with the law, he/she can send a complaint to the Data Protection Authority.

Electronic monitoring and surveillance cameras

As the Directorate of Labour conducts electronic monitoring with CCTV in the facilities and premises of the Directorate, all monitored areas are marked separately. Such monitoring is carried out for safety reasons.

Video material collected during electronic monitoring is only examined if there is a special reason and is not stored for more than 30 days unless law allows or is necessary to store material for a claim to be demarcated, presented or defended due to a court case or other similar legal necessities.

If you have suggestions or complaints regarding personal data protection, you can send the message to: