The U.S. Embassy said on Monday evening that it monitors the area in the vicinity the embassy complex for any suspicious activity. SUPO has publicly stated that it has not found anything illegal about the surveillance.
Sweden, Norway and Denmark have all raised concerns about the conduct of the United States within the respective countries. Representatives from the U.S. have been keeping checks on individuals in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. They have targeted people seen taking photographs of U.S. embassies, the houses of embassy workers or the schools of workers' children.
Finland's Data Protection Ombudsman on Tuesday filed a request with SUPO for further clarification. A response is expected within a week.
The Ombudsman says he is particularly interested in how the Security Police have evaluated the situation in respect to the protection of personal information.
"If a register is being kept on individuals, even if the data is from public records, this moves into the area in which laws on personal data are applicable," said Data Protection Ombudsman Reijo Aarnio.
According to the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, the monitoring programme has not targeted Finnish citizens and it does not include intelligence gathering. It says that it has complied with Finnish law and acted in cooperation with Finland's Security Police.