Finland

Resources

This page is intended to present key information on privacy and genetic research relevant to Finland. It contains links to key Finnish public attitudes surveys and reports from relevant organisations. Please use the contact pages to make any suggestions or to inform us of any new research.

Language of privacy

The corresponding Finnish word for privacy is yksityisyys. It several meanings. The most common ones are:

• something that does not belong to the society
• individual
• the opposite of “public” (julkinen) i.e. something that belongs only to one person

There are some works in the field of philosophy in Finland, where they have also tried to analyze the foundations of privacy from an analytical point of view. The most recent one is by Dr. Juha Räikkä “Yksityisyyden filosofia” (The philosophy of privacy). WSOY 2007.

However, these works are not national and refer to the international concepts of privacy. In English, there is this paper: Juha Räikkä 2008. “Autonomy and Genetic Privacy” in V. Launis and J. Räikkä (Eds.), Genetic Democracy: Philosophical Perspectives (Springer, UK), 43-51.

Eurobarometer

• Directorate General Press and Communication (2005) Social values, science and Technology (Special Eurobarometer 225/ Wave 63.1). EC Directorate General Research. Relevant questions: Q15.a.3, Q17.
• Gaskell, George et al (2006) European and Biotechnology in 2005: Patterns and Trends (Eurobarometer 64.3). London, London School of Economics. A report to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research. Relevant question: Q5.3.

Relevant Interests Expressed by the Public

• Tupasela, A., Snell, K., Sihvo S., Jallinoja, P., Aro, A.R., and Hemminki, E. (2007) Väestön suhtautuminen lääketieteellisten näytekokoelmien uudelleen käyttöön ja biopankkeihin. [The perceptions of Finn’s towards the biomedical use of tissue collections and biobanks] Suomen lääkärilehti [Finnish Medical Journal] 62(51-52), 4780-4782.

Relevant Interests Expressed in Different Contexts

Science

•  Finnish Science Barometer, 2007. Finnish Society for Scientific Information.

Genetic Testing

• Jallinoja, Piia, Hakonen, Anu, Aro, Arja R, Niemelä, Pirkko, Hietala, Marja, Lönnqvist, Jouko, Peltonen, Leena & Aula, Pertti (1998) Attitudes towards genetic testing: analysis of contradictions. Social Sciences and Medicine, 46, 1367-74.
• Jallinoja, Piia & Aro, Arja R (1999) Knowledge about genes and heredity among Finns. New Genetics and Society, 18, 101-110.
• Jallinoja, Piia & Aro, Arja R (2000). Does knowledge make a difference? The association between knowledge about genes and attitudes toward gene tests. Journal of Health Communication 5, 29-39.
• Toiviainen, Hanna, Jallinoja, Piia, Aro, Arja R, Hemminki, Elina (2003) Medical and lay attitudes towards genetic screening and testing in Finland. European Journal of Human Genetics, 11, 565-572.

Of Interest

• Finland - data protection information at Privireal