The license plate recognition camera system that has been in use for decades by the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) has now been suspended to clarify its legal basis. Both the Data Protection Inspectorate and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice identified several shortcomings in the system that infringed on individuals' privacy. The Ministry of the Interior has since compiled the main issues that need to be addressed in legislation.

"Our proposal would regulate that license plate recognition cameras may record preemptively — that is, take images of all passing vehicles. However, the use of those images would be limited to very specific and narrow purposes," said Henry Timberg, head of the public order department at the Ministry of the Interior.

Timberg emphasized that those purposes would be limited to situations involving elevated risks, including criminal activity or searches for wanted individuals.

Madis Timpson, chair of the Riigikogu Legal Affairs Committee and a member of the Reform Party, said the current wording is problematic and does not provide the necessary legal clarity. In his view, the aim of recognition cameras should be to stop crime, not prevent it.

"Personally, I'm not against cameras, but I want this to be very clearly regulated — how much they record, how the data is stored, how long it's kept. I want to know what happens with these millions of images. That's still a bit unclear to me," said Timpson.

The aim is to reach clarity quickly so that the cameras can be put back into use as soon as possible. However, Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart (Center), deputy chair of the Legal Affairs Committee, does not believe rushing the process is appropriate.

"There hasn't been enough public discussion about whether we as a society are truly ready for this kind of mass surveillance. Are we prepared to accept so many cameras being installed? Are we really ready to move toward a surveillance society?" said Kovalenko-Kõlvart.

The proposed changes and recommendations related to the license plate recognition cameras were submitted to the Legal Affairs Committee on Monday, and the committee is scheduled to begin discussions on them Tuesday.

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