Pakosta aims to restrict collection of email data in criminal proceedings

The Justice Ministry is planning a legislative amendment that will clarify rules for collecting information from smart devices and email during criminal investigations. Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta considers the current situation abnormal, as overly extensive data collection can expose unrelated private information about a person.

The Justice Ministry is developing a legislative amendment that would set clear boundaries on how investigative authorities can collect information from people's smart devices and email during criminal proceedings. The amendment aims to protect people in situations where currently, excessive data collection can bring to light entirely unrelated private information.

Liisa Pakosta has assessed the current state of affairs as abnormal. According to the minister, it is neither sensible nor fair that in investigating a criminal case, investigators should have access to a much broader range of personal data than is actually needed to resolve the case. It is precisely to prevent such situations that the ministry wishes to write more specific rules into the law regarding the scope of data collection.

The proposed amendment will primarily concern how access to digital communications data is regulated in criminal proceedings, including email correspondence and information stored on smart devices. The objective is to ensure that information collected during proceedings is limited only to what is relevant from an investigative perspective, and that a person's other private data remain protected.

The preparation of the legislative amendment is part of a broader effort to strengthen the protection of personal data in Estonia in the digital age, when an increasingly large volume of people's everyday lives leaves traces in various digital systems. More detailed information about the content and timeline of the amendment will become clear during the public consultation of the bill.