© BMI / E. Weisheimer

Schengen
Information System

What is the Schengen Information System?
The Schengen Information System1 (SIS) is a collaborativeelectronic law enforcement search and information systemestablished by the Schengen States as one of the mostimportant compensatory measures for the abolition ofinternal border checks and the fight against cross-bordercrime in Europe.
SIS contains alerts on persons and objects. Alerts on
persons may be recorded in SIS for the following reasons:• A person is wanted for arrest or• sought to assist with a judicial procedure.
• A person is missing.
• A vulnerable person or minor has to be prevented fromtravelling for their own protection.
• A person is subject of discreet checks.
• A third-country national2 is subject of a return decision
or a refusal of entry or stay in the Schengen Area.
• An unknown wanted person is sought as a perpetratorof an offence based on fingerprints.
Alerts on objects are issued for sought vehicles, firearms,
documents and banknotes for seizure or use as evidencein criminal proceedings.

Currently, SIS has 30 users:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden as well as theassociated members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway andSwitzerland. Cyprus is a Member State of the EU, but does
not participate in the Schengen Area. The microstates
Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are de facto partof the Schengen Area, as all of their borders are with theSchengen States France and Italy, and no border controls
are in place.
1Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen
Information System (SIS) in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal
matters, amending and repealing Council Decision 2007/533/JHA, and repealing Regulation (EC)No 1986/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Decision 2010/261/
EU.
2
Third-country nationals are individuals who are neither EU citizens, nor EAA citizens nor
Swiss nationals.

Which personal data is stored in SIS?
The categories of data that are eligible to be processed inSIS particularly include3: surnames and forenames; names
at birth; previously used names; aliases; place and dateof birth; sex; specific physical characteristics not subject
to change; photographs; fingerprints; nationality; whether
the person concerned is armed, violent or has escaped;
reason for the alert; authority issuing the alert; a reference
to the decision giving rise to the alert; the type of criminal
offence underlying the alert; action to be taken; numbersof identity papers and date of issue.

What rights do you have regarding datastored in SIS?
Each person has the right to obtain confirmation as towhether or not personal data concerning him or her are
being processed in SIS. This right is based on Art. 53,para. 1 of Regulation (EU) 2018/18614, Art. 67, para. 1 ofRegulation (EU) 2018/18625 and the national law of theMember State on whose territory this right is exercised.
The relevant legal provisions in Austria are section 44 of
the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG)6, Art. 15 through17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as
well as Art. 14 and Art. 16, para. 1 and 2 of Directive (EU)2016/6807. The application can be filed using an electronicsignature.
As a safeguard against misuse, you are required tosufficiently prove your identity to the data controller(any former names, date of birth, place/country of birth,parents’ forenames, nationality, additional home addresses)
if you request access to any personal data concerning youthat may be stored in SIS. In accordance with section 42,para. 7 of the DSG, the controller may demand
3See Art. 20 of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1862.
4Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen
Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks, and amending the Convention implementing
the Schengen Agreement, and amending and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006
5Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen
Information System (SIS) in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal
matters, amending and repealing Council Decision 2007/533/JHA, and repealing Regulation (EC)No 1986/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Decision 2010/261/EU.
6
Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG), Federal Law Gazette 2021/148, as amended andupdated from time to time.
7Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of
personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection
or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movementof such data

additional necessary information in order to verify theidentity of the person who has filed an application
pursuant to sections 44 and 45 of the DSG. The request
for access must be in writing. Telephone requests cannot
be answered for legal reasons.

What does this right of access mean?
Each person not only has the right to request accessto their personal data that has been entered in SIS, butalso – in accordance with Art. 53 of Regulation (EU)2018/1861 in connection with sections 44 and 45 of theAustrian Data Protection Act (DSG) as well as Art. 16
and 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation – has
the right to have inaccurate personal data corrected or
unlawfully stored personal data deleted. If the operationof SIS infringes on a person’s rights, the respective
member state is liable – to the extent defined by its
national law – for any damage suffered. In Austria, therelevant legal provisions are Art. 82 of the of the General
Data Protection Regulation in connection with section 29of the DSG.

Who is responsible for SIS in Austria?
In Austria, the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) isresponsible for operating the national part of SIS. Dueto this responsibility, i.e. as a controller, the BMI is also
required to provide information pursuant to section 44of the DSG. Thus, a request for information has to besubmitted to the following BMI address:
Bundesministerium für Inneres
Bundeskriminalamt, Sirene ÖsterreichJosef-Holaubek-Platz 1A-1090 Vienna
Austria
For details on how to obtain information on dataprotection matters from the BMI and Austria’s law
enforcement agencies, please visit the website of theBMI (www.bmi.gv.at).

Who supervises data processing in SIS?
Each Member State shall establish a National
Supervisory Authority to monitor the lawfulness ofthe processing of SIS personal data on its territory
independently. In Austria, the Data Protection Authority(DSB) has been designated as National Supervisory
Authority. Anyone who feels that their rights wereviolated or that controllers or processors violated theirduties can file a complaint with or send a message to theDSB.
For details on this process, please consult the websiteof the DSB at www.dsb.gv.at. The DSB provides noinformation on data stored in SIS; rather, the DSB is in aposition to check whether provided information or thedenial of information is lawful.
Another authority supervising compliance with data
privacy is the European Data Protection Supervisor8(www.edps.europa.eu). Within the scope of theirrespective jurisdictions, the National Supervisory
Authority and the European Data Protection Supervisor
actively collaborate to ensure coordinated monitoring ofSIS.

88 Art. 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006

Legal notice:Media owner:
Federal Ministry of the Interior of Austria (Bundesministerium
für Inneres (BMI), Criminal Intelligence Service Austria(Bundeskriminalamt), II/BK/2.3),
Josef-Holaubek-Platz 1, 1090 Vienna;
Layout:Referat I/C/10/a (Strategische Kommunikation und Kreation);
Printed by:
BMI/Digital Print Center;
Address: 1010 Vienna, Herrengasse 7, Austria

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