According to the Ministry of Justice, the court issued 771 new surveillance permits last year. Ginter says that the total number of phone numbers intercepted is hidden. "Currently, Estonia is in a situation where the state is running a media campaign. Its goal is to convince everyone that we are not being monitored too much. The state refuses to disclose how many phone numbers were intercepted," said Ginter.
According to the lawyer, the problem is not only that the data is not fully disclosed. He believes it is also about whether the surveillance sufficiently violated personal data. "The police themselves assess whether your interception sufficiently violated privacy. Imagine listening to your partner's conversation and deciding for yourself whether it was sufficiently invasive," Ginter stated.
In April, Ginter wanted to listen to a recording of an interception where he spoke with his client. For this, he had to travel from Tallinn to Pärnu. If the accused wants their lawyer to access the recording outside their hometown, they must pay for fuel and the lawyer's hourly fee. In Ginter's case, such a trip meant a cost of around 800 euros for the client.
According to the lawyer, he was not allowed to access the recordings in Tallinn. The police justified this by stating that the investigator handling the case is in Pärnu. Ginter was only in the role of the intercepted person in the case, so the investigator could not disclose the details of the investigation to him.
"There is actually no reason to make me listen to it in Pärnu. I am being harassed, and the client is being charged a high cost for going to Pärnu, hoping that the intercepted person will not go there," Ginter said.
The police also wish to make access to materials easier. According to current legislation, a person can access the materials only if it does not violate the privacy of others. The police state that a person involved in the police's interest must physically come to the location to access the materials.
"If the proceedings are in the jurisdiction of the West Prefecture, the materials can be accessed, for example, in Pärnu," said Police Colonel Mehis Mets.
At the same time, Mets found that the current procedure for accessing documents is outdated and needs to be changed. "We see two main problems: the time consumption for police officers and the inconvenience for the person," Mets explained.
The PPA has also discussed changing the procedure for accessing surveillance data with the Ministry of the Interior, but no solution has been reached yet.
Oversight of the activities of surveillance agencies is carried out by the Riigikogu's Special Committee on the Oversight of Security Agencies.