According to article 13 of the Official Statistics Law of 2021 (the Law) CYSTAT has the authority to require from any person the provision of data in the context of a survey or other work that is being carried out by virtue of the provisions of the Law. It is also responsible for determining the appropriate method for the provision and the recording of the data.

The provision of data for statistical purposes by any person is mandatory, to the extent that these data are absolutely necessary for the production of official statistics. 

CYSTAT on its side, is obliged to inform the person from whom the provision of data is required about: (a) the conduct of a survey or other work by virtue of the provisions the Law, (b) the scope of the survey or other work, (c) statistical confidentiality, and (d) the penalties imposed in case of refusal, omission or negligence in providing data, non-compliance with the deadlines set or the provision of false, incomplete or inaccurate data.

Furthermore, during data collection the statistical principles provided for in article 4, the provisions of the European Statistics Code of Practice provided for in article 10, the statistical quality criteria provided for in article 11 and any other directives and guidelines set by the Director of CYSTAT regarding the production and dissemination of statistics, apply.

2. In article 3 of the Law regarding the responsibilities of CYSTAT, it is stipulated that:

"3.-(1) The Statistical Service is designated as the body having the responsibility for coordinating all activities in the Republic for the development, production and dissemination of official statistics, which are determined in the annual and multiannual programmes of statistical activities."

3. In article 8 of the Law regarding matters related to which a survey or other work may be conducted, it is stipulated that:

"8.-(1) The Statistical Service, with the contribution of the other national authorities, shall compile a multiannual programme of statistical activities, for a period of three (3) to five (5) years, which shall include the surveys or other work that are scheduled to be carried out during this period and which shall be communicated to the Statistical Council;

Provided that, a survey or other work may be conducted relating to any economic, demographic, social, environmental or agricultural matter."

4. In article 14 of the Law regarding the access of CYSTAT to records, it is stipulated that:

"14.-(1) The Statistical Service and the other national authorities in exercising their functions, and in order to reduce the burden on respondents and improve the quality of statistics, shall have the right to:

(a) access and use, promptly and free of charge, all administrative records and private records which include data necessary to produce official statistics,

(b) integrate in their production processes those records provided in paragraph (a), to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of official statistics, which are determined in the multiannual and annual programmes of statistical activities, subject to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679:

Provided that, the access to private records takes place in such a manner that the identification of statistical units is not allowed.

(2)(a) The Statistical Service and the other national authorities shall establish the necessary cooperation mechanisms with the owners of administrative records and private records.

(b) In particular, for the administrative records which are built up and maintained by public administration bodies, such as ministries, departments and services of the Republic, public
corporations and local government authorities, the Statistical Service shall be involved in and shall express an opinion at every stage of decision regarding their initial design, development, amendment or possible discontinuation, thus facilitating the further use of those records for the purpose of producing official statistics.

(3) The Statistical Service shall maintain on its website the classification systems it uses, while public administration bodies, such as ministries, departments and services of the Republic, public corporations and local government authorities, shall use the said systems in the exercise of their functions and integrate them appropriately into their administrative records.

(4) Administrative records, made available by their owners to the Statistical Service and to the other national authorities in order to be used for the production of official statistics, shall be accompanied by relevant metadata, which are created under the responsibility of the owners of the records in collaboration with the Statistical Service and based on the standards set by the Statistical Service.

(5) The owners of administrative records used for the production of official statistics shall provide those records, directly or indirectly, to the Statistical Service and to the other national authorities in accordance with commonly agreed time schedules, which are set in such a manner that the deadlines for the submission of European statistics to the European Commission (Eurostat) are being met, and shall inform and obtain the consent of the Statistical Service in case they intend to extend the deadlines for submission of data by persons."

5. Additionally, in article 13(1) of the same Law it is stipulated that:

"13.-(1)(a) For data collection purposes, any official of the Statistical Service or of other national authority and any person from the private sector acting by virtue of the provisions of article 12 has authority to require from any person the provision of data in the context of a survey or other work that is being carried out by virtue of the provisions of this Law."

6. The conditions set by GDPR in article 6, are fulfilled by articles 3 and 8 of the Law. Therefore the legal obligation of CYSTAT and, at the same time, its right to collect data is evident on the basis of article 13. Additionally, the right to delegate the exercise of public authority to authorised CYSTAT officers, is also inferred.

Moreover, article 14(1) of the Law stipulates the obligation to provide administrative records required for the production of official statistics to CYSTAT.

7. CYSTAT observes article 16 of the Law regarding statistical confidentiality, by implementing a number of technical and organisational measures for the protection of personal data. Additionally, observes the provisions of article 13(2) of the Law, by collecting data that are absolutely necessary for the production of official statistics. 

8. Based on the arguments presented above, which justify CYSTAT's right to access personal data from natural persons, the Office of the Commissioner for Data Protection has issued a written opinion concluding that, CYSTAT has the right to receive data / information required when conducting surveys from ministries and other governmental services as well as from private organisations or other persons, without needing to obtain the approval of the data subject, without this being a violation of the provisions of the GDPR.

A copy of the above mentioned written opinion of the Commissioner is available upon request (in Greek only).