Skip to content

Compliance & Legal

Legal, regulatory, and quality compliance information for using the Danish Parliament API. Understand your obligations and the API's commitments to data quality and privacy.

Compliance Areas

🔒 GDPR Compliance

Personal data handling under European data protection regulations.

📜 Licensing

Terms of use and attribution requirements.

✅ Data Quality

API data quality guarantees and limitations.

Key Compliance Principles

Open Data Philosophy

The Danish Parliament API embodies Denmark's commitment to transparency: - Public by Default - All parliamentary data is public - No Restrictions - No API keys or rate limits - Universal Access - Available to everyone globally - Democratic Transparency - Supporting informed citizenship

GDPR Considerations

Personal Data Exposure

The API contains extensive personal information about public officials: 

{
  "navn": "Anders Fogh Rasmussen",
  "biografi": "Født 26-01-1953. Cand.polit...",
  "email": "example@ft.dk",
  "telefon": "+45 33 37 55 00"
}

Lawful Basis

Processing is justified under GDPR Article 6(1): - (e) Public Interest - Democratic transparency - (f) Legitimate Interests - Public accountability - Article 86 - Official documents exception

Your Responsibilities

When using personal data from the API: 1. Purpose Limitation - Use only for stated purposes 2. Data Minimization - Don't collect unnecessary data 3. Storage Limitation - Don't retain longer than needed 4. Security - Protect any stored personal data 5. Transparency - Inform users about data usage

Attribution Requirements

While the API is free to use, proper attribution is expected:

Minimum Attribution

Data source: Danish Parliament (Folketinget) - oda.ft.dk

Data provided by the Danish Parliament Open Data API (oda.ft.dk)
Retrieved: 2025-09-09

Academic Citation

Danish Parliament. (2025). Open Data API [Data set]. 
Retrieved from https://oda.ft.dk/api/

Data Quality Commitments

Freshness Guarantee

  • Real-time Updates - During parliamentary sessions
  • Daily Synchronization - For most entities
  • Historical Accuracy - Past data is immutable

Completeness Levels

Period Completeness Notes
2000-Present 95-100% Near complete coverage
1990-1999 80-95% Good coverage, some gaps
1980-1989 60-80% Moderate coverage
Pre-1980 Variable Significant gaps possible

Data Integrity

  • Referential Integrity - Foreign keys are valid
  • Temporal Consistency - Dates are logical
  • UTF-8 Encoding - Proper character representation
  • Validation - Data follows documented schemas

Compliance Checklist

Before using the API in production:

  • Understand GDPR obligations for your use case
  • Review Terms of Service compatibility
  • Implement proper attribution
  • Document lawful basis for processing
  • Consider data subject rights

Technical Implementation

  • Handle personal data securely
  • Implement data minimization
  • Set appropriate retention periods
  • Log data access for accountability
  • Encrypt sensitive data at rest

Organizational Measures

  • Appoint data protection officer (if required)
  • Create privacy policy for users
  • Implement data breach procedures
  • Train staff on data protection
  • Document processing activities

Special Considerations

Journalistic Use

Enhanced protections under GDPR Article 85: - Broader lawful basis for processing - Public interest in transparency - Freedom of expression considerations

Research Use

Specific provisions under GDPR Article 89: - Scientific research exemptions - Appropriate safeguards required - Pseudonymization where possible

Commercial Use

No restrictions on commercial use, but: - Must comply with all GDPR requirements - Consider competitive fairness - Respect individual privacy rights

Risk Assessment

Low Risk Uses

  • Aggregated statistics
  • Public policy analysis
  • Historical research
  • Educational purposes

Medium Risk Uses

  • Individual voting tracking
  • Political profiling
  • Behavioral analysis
  • Predictive modeling

High Risk Uses

  • Automated decision-making
  • Systematic monitoring
  • Large-scale processing
  • Sensitive data combinations

Getting Help

  • GDPR: Contact your data protection authority
  • Terms: Email folketinget@ft.dk
  • Attribution: See Licensing

Technical Issues

  • Data Quality: Report to API maintainers
  • Encoding Problems: Check UTF-8 handling
  • Missing Data: See Completeness

Updates and Changes

This compliance framework is subject to change: - Monitor for Terms of Service updates - Watch for GDPR guidance changes - Check for new data quality commitments - Review attribution requirements periodically

Last Updated: September 2025