Supo serves researchers
Legal conditions, legislation relating to disclosure of information, and relevance of the request are considered in granting research permits.
Do you wish to use Supo’s documents as a source for your research?
The period of secrecy for Supo’s documents is 60 years. You may apply for a research permit to access Supo’s archives if you wish to use Supo’s documents as sources for the purpose of
- scientific research,
- statistical compilations, or
- preparation of official plans or studies.
Supo has granted research permits mainly for PhD-level scientific research. Legal conditions, legislation relating to disclosure of information, and relevance of the request are considered in granting research permits. The permits are always granted for a fixed term and may also be cancelled on justifiable grounds.
As a general rule, Supo does not grant access to its classified documents for Master´s theses or genealogical research. For those purposes, you can submit an ordinary request for access to a document instead of applying for a research permit.
On the website of the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman, there is information on how the protection of personal data is taken care of in scientific research.
Research permits granted by Supo are free of charge. In case retrieving classified information related to the research permit, familiarizing oneself with it, or evaluating the content of the material to be used for research purposes require Supo to use more than 10 working hours, 40€ per hour are charged for the part exceeding 10 hours.
How to apply for a research permit
If you wish to apply for a research permit, submit first an informal information request to Supo's registry. Describe briefly the topic of the research, the scheduled duration, and the data requested from Supo. Supo will send you the application form and further instructions on how to apply for a research permit, if necessary.
If the requested material is public or the classified parts can be easily deleted, your information request may be handled as an ordinary request for access to a document.
Please note that the processing time of research permits is per se six to twelve months.
Supo's old documents are stored in the National Archives
The documents of Supo's predecessors (National Investigative Police; State Police I and II) have been transferred to the National Archives, where they are accessible to researchers.
Supo transfers its documents to the National Archives after the 60-year period of secrecy has passed. If you are interested in these documents, please contact the National Archives directly.