Finnish environmental permit authority accused of unlawful restrictions on public documents

A senior official at Finland’s Lupa- ja valvontavirasto (LVV) has filed a complaint with the Chancellor of Justice, alleging the agency is illegally requiring strong electronic identification for access to certain environmental documents, Yle reports.

The complaint argues that mandating bank-level authentication to view public records may violate transparency laws. It also raises concerns that LVV is improperly redacting information from public documents, contrary to Finland’s Publicity Act.

The official questions whether LVV’s practice of hiding property numbers on maps—even when unlinked to individuals—complies with data protection rules. The agency has previously cited privacy concerns for withholding such details, including in a May case involving a Lahti data center’s permit application.

Additionally, the complaint challenges LVV’s requirement that users declare their purpose for accessing documents, a step not mandated by law. While the agency offers email requests as an alternative, legal experts note this creates inconsistency, as email requests cannot verify identity.

LVV has until June 18 to respond. The agency declined to comment pending its formal reply.