Competent national authorities enter information on individuals into the system (e.g. information about persons who have an entry ban in the  Schengen area, or persons who are wanted or went missing) as well as information on certain types of objects (such as banknotes, motor vehicles, ships, planes, firearms, or documents, that may have been stolen, misappropriated or lost). The SIS is used to exercise border, police and customs checks and to combat terrorism and other serious criminal offences, as well as to help facilitate the processing of visa and longterm stay requests and other tasks.

In accordance with data protection principles, all individuals are recognized specific rights by the Schengen Convention. These include particularly:

- the right of access to data relating to them stored in the SIS

- the right to rectification when data are factually inaccurate or deletion when data have been stored unlawfully

- the right to ask the national data protection authorities to check data entered in the SIS which concern them and the use made of such data

- the right to bring proceedings before the courts or competent authorities to correct or delete incorrect data or to obtain compensation