Estonia halves surveillance permits, number of people tracked still steady
Despite a 50 percent drop in surveillance permits over five years, the number of people monitored in Estonia has stayed roughly the same, the Justice Ministry said.
In 2020, prosecutors and judges issued 1,756 new permits for surveillance operations. By 2024, that number had dropped to 753, according to Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa Pakosta's written response to an inquiry by MP Helir-Valdor Seeder (Isamaa) regarding how many people subjected to surveillance are later notified about it.
"The Prosecutor's Office grants a surveillance permit only through the end of proceedings, after which individuals are notified — unless prosecutors proceed to apply for a court permit," Pakosta said. She added that such cases are rare and that court and prosecution permits usually concern the same individuals.
"Notification data was taken from the Surveillance Operations Information System (JÄTIS), but in practice, notifications are also sent outside the system, so the data presented doesn't reflect the total number," she noted.
Despite the drop in permits, the number of people affected by surveillance has remained largely unchanged. About 2,040 people were notified in 2020, and 1,565 in 2024.
Hundreds each year are not notified immediately because courts postpone notice or prosecutors keep it classified until the grounds for secrecy expire.
In the first half of 2025, 1,366 people were notified of surveillance operations. Court orders delayed notification for 21 individuals. By authorization of the Prosecutor's Office, 227 people were initially not informed, though 174 were later notified once the reason for withholding notice no longer applied.
Justice Ministry adviser Ingrid Saarepuu told ERR that numbers differ because one surveillance permit can cover multiple operations or people.
"Drug crimes, for example, are usually committed in groups, and everyone involved must be monitored at once," she said.
Saarepuu also noted that many people caught up in surveillance are not direct targets.
"For instance, three drug suspects may be wiretapped for a month and speak with 30 others," she explained. "Investigators might identify ten of them, who are later notified. The rest remain unknown and therefore never told."
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Editor: Mait Ots, Aili Vahtla
