The General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (Cap 586) regulate the processing of personal data whether held electronically or in manual form. The Office of the Permanent Secretary includes the Office of the Director General Strategy and Support, the Office of the Policy Development and Programme Implementation Directorate, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Malta Critical Infrastructural Protection Unit, Third Country Nationals and Ministry Boards and Tribunals¹. The Office of the Permanent Secretary is set to fully comply with the Data Protection Principles as set out in such data protection legislation.

Purposes for collecting data

The Office of the Permanent Secretary collects and processes information to carry out its obligations in accordance with present legislation.  All data is collected and processed in accordance with Data Protection Legislation, Malta Police Act (Cap. 164), Immigration Act (Cap 217), Restorative Justice Act (Cap. 516), Prison Act (Cap, 260), Refugee Act (Cap. 420), Arms Act (Cap. 480), the Public Administration Act and their Subsidiary Legislation in order to carry out its functions to administer matters related to security and home affairs, and co-ordinate as necessary between the departments falling under its portfolio.

Recipients of data

Personal Information is accessed by the employees who are assigned to carry out the functions of the Office of the Permanent Secretary.  Disclosure can also be made to third parties but only as authorized by law.

Your rights

You are entitled to know, free of charge, what type of information the Office of the Permanent Secretary holds and processes about you and why, who has access to it, how it is held and kept up to date, for how long it is kept, and what the Unit is doing to comply with data protection legislation.

The GDPR establishes a formal procedure for dealing with data subject access requests. All data subjects have the right to access any personal information kept about them by the Office of the Permanent Secretary, either on computer or in manual files. Requests for access to personal information by data subjects are to be made in writing and sent to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Employment. Your identification details such as ID number, name and surname have to be submitted with the request for access. In case we encounter identification difficulties, you may be required to present an identification document.

The Office of the Permanent Secretary aims to comply as quickly as possible with requests for access to personal information and will ensure that it is provided within a reasonable timeframe and in any case not later than one month from receipt of request, unless there is good reason for delay. When a request for access cannot be met within a reasonable time, the reason will be explained in writing to the data subject making the request. Should there be any data breaches, the data subject will be informed accordingly.

All data subjects have the right to request that their information is not used or is amended if it results to be incorrect. Data subjects may also request that their data is erased.

These rights may be restricted, if applicable, as per Data Protection Legislation.

In case you are not satisfied with the outcome of your access request, you may refer a complaint to the Information and Data Protection Commissioner, whose contact details are provided below.

The Data Protection Officer may be contacted on dp.mhse@gov.mt or by telephone on 2568 9314.

The Data Controller

The Permanent Secretary may be contacted at:

Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Employment (MHSE)
35 Old Bakery Street
Valletta

Telephone: 2568 9255
Email: permsec.mhse@gov.mt

The Information and Data Protection Commissioner

The Information and Data Protection Commissioner may be contacted at:

Level 2, Airways House,
High Street,
Sliema SLM 1549

Telephone: 2328 7100
Email: idpc.info@idpc.org.mt

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¹ The Ministry Boards and Tribunals include the Academic Committee of the Academy of the Disciplined Forces, the Aviation Security Committee, the Explosives Committee, the Victim Offender Mediation Committee, the Civil Protection Council, the Academy for Disciplined Forces Board, the Corradino Correctional Facility Monitoring Board, the Health and Safety Monitoring Board Maintenance of Good Order at Places of Entertainment, the Immigration Appeals Board, the Independent Police Complaints Board, the Injuries Board for Disciplined Forces, the Monitoring Board for Detained Persons, the Offender Assessment Board, the Parole Board, the Prison Addiction Rehabilitation Management Board, the Prison Leave Advisory Board, the Private Maritime Security Licensing Board, the Refugee Appeals Board, the Remission Board, the Trafficking in Human Persons Monitoring Group, the Treatment of Sex Offenders Board, the Weapons Advisory Board, the Police Licences Appeals Tribunal and the Prison Appeals Tribunal.