Court rejects lawyer’s claim over communications data collection

Tallinn Administrative Court has rejected lawyer Silver Reinsaar’s claim for compensation over the collection and retention of his communications and location data, ERR reports.

Reinsaar argued that a provision of Estonia’s Electronic Communications Act conflicts with European Union law and should not be applied. He said the general collection of such data violated his right to privacy and caused him non-pecuniary harm.

The law requires communications companies to retain specified data for one year, including information that can identify the destination of a communication and establish its date, time and duration.

The court found that Estonia had substantially breached its obligations by failing to bring two provisions of the act into line with EU law, and that the breach was still ongoing when the judgment was issued. It also said the general, indiscriminate collection and retention of traffic and location data significantly interferes with privacy, and raised clear questions about whether the practice is proportionate.

However, the court said not all the conditions for compensation under the State Liability Act had been met. In particular, the rule underlying the breach stems from an EU directive that is not directly applicable, the court said. It therefore dismissed the claim.

The decision may be appealed to the Tallinn Circuit Court by December 7.