Aivar Krupp, the service owner at the Police and Border Guard Board's (PPA) development department, told ERR that the police only manage those public cameras that are integrated into their system or to which the agency has access. There are also local government cameras to which the police do not have access and for which the PPA has no cooperation agreement.

"Speaking of numbers, the PPA network includes over 1,600 public space camera feeds nationwide, and the largest local government in Tallinn has 645 cameras," Krupp added.

He explained that the current practice involves installing cameras in areas where the police or the local government itself has seen a sudden increase in legal violations.

"There are two options: either the local government itself proposes to the PPA to install a public space camera, or conversely, where the PPA makes a proposal to the local government to place a public space camera in a certain area. In cooperation with the local government, especially in terms of financing, our current practice is that the local government installs the camera, pays the communication costs and then transfers the image to the PPA by contract," Krupp said.

According to him, the number of public space cameras is variable, for example, the need for cameras in some areas may disappear.

Krupp disagreed with the data protection inspectorate's guideline that in some municipalities, camera surveillance now covers almost the entire territory of the local government.

"I cannot comment very precisely on the claim made by the Data Protection Inspectorate. However, I can say that, contrary to that claim, today in smaller local governments there are not so many cameras that one could claim the entire administrative territory of the local government is covered by cameras. This is in contrast to the city of Tallinn, where the network and volume of cameras are greater than in smaller local governments," he stated.

Krupp noted that there are areas in municipalities that are not covered by public cameras, mainly because there has been no need for them in those regions.

According to the Law Enforcement Act, residents must be notified about cameras installed in public spaces. Krupp explained that for this purpose, information boards marked with camera signage are installed in the area.

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise believes that the installation of public cameras should be preemptively discussed with the community. According to Krupp, the PPA supports the recommendation for assessing new and existing cameras. However, he noted that there is a risk of contradictions arising.

"There cannot be a situation where the PPA and the local government have seen an increased risk or danger of crimes being committed in a given area, and then we contact the community and the community is 100 percent against it, saying no, we do not want a camera there. Then a contradiction arises. However, involving each community in public space or the safety of public spaces is very welcome."

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise sent a letter to Justice Minister Madis Timpson (Reform) stating that the regulations for the use of cameras and the processing of personal data need to be clarified and approved by the Riigikogu.

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