Ginter made his comments on ERR's "R2 Päev" show, in response to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board's (MTA) plan to surveil both business and private bank account transactions.

The MTA has proposed that banks should start providing aggregated information about the sums passing through accounts, in an effort to combat tax evasion, money laundering and other criminal activities.

Ginter told ERR that, if the government has a desire to know with where you are spending your money, on what and with whom —be it a casino, on alcohol, or even on a lover— this bears the hallmarks of a surveillance society.

He said: "This would represent a significant problem in the context of principles of human dignity."

"Providing I am law-abiding, I should be free to evolve myself, spending my money as I choose to, while the assumption should never be made that there might be any crime involved here."

According to Ginter, human dignity is a crucial principle within the legal sphere, and is the well-spring of all other rights, for instance the right to privacy. People should not have to constantly fret about what others are thinking of them, nor have to censor their behavior, out of fear that the state might disapprove.

"People tend to think: 'Well this is no big deal, I'm not committing any crimes, so let them track my phone's location, let them surveil me on the road, with their cameras, let them require me to declare all transactions over €1,000.' But all this in concert creates the understanding that you are being watched," Ginter continued.

Ginter stressed that people actually need space to be alone, and the state should only intrude into that space when there is serious cause to believe that the individual is doing something which would warrant said intrusion.

He provided a simple example to illustrate the necessity of privacy. Imagine if, at a residential apartment block's homeowners' association meeting, the proposal was made to hook up the doors' entry-phone system to a police database, ostensibly so that the police could immediately respond if the face of a criminal was detected. That proposal would likely find approval with the residents.

However, "If I note that Russia has successfully done this, using their databases to get to know exactly where opposition groups congregate, or who is friends with whom, then you can see that regime change becomes impossible, and the life of the opposition becomes unsustainable," Ginter went on.

"Every access point must be considered in light of the risk we would create, were truly bad people to take control," Ginter added.

He added that even if an individual has committed no crime or misdemeanor offense, this does not mean that key decision-makers surrounding them will not make mistakes, or be subject to blackmail or other pressures, where their personal data could be utilized against them.

"The fact that you are not doing anything wrong does not mean that society is not at risk," Ginter concluded.

Ultimately, the MTA plan should be halted, Ginter believes, though he also advised not to proffer too harsh criticism on the authority, since the plan was likely not born out of malice but rather without thorough due consideration, he said.

Ginter recalled a previous incident when MTA officials were seen recording vehicle license plates parked at sports clubs, with the aim of determining if the vehicles were used for business or pleasure.

While establishing this was a political directive at the time, Ginter said he: "Suspects this initiative did not come from any particularly smart individuals."

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