Yearbook of the Foresight Centre: Estonia needs clearer rules for the reuse of personal data

Tea Danilov, Head of the Foresight Centre, revealed that according to the centre’s research, Estonian residents expect the state to make more effort in preventing health and social problems. “Over 70% of Estonian residents expect personal advice from the state and 60% consider it important for the state to provide preventive services,” said Danilov. “This clearly indicates a need to increase the accuracy and timeliness of preventive services, by using the data that the state already has on individuals today.”

The Foresight Centre states in its yearbook that if data-based prevention could help to reduce the costs of cardiovascular diseases by one-sixth, the Estonian healthcare system would save 50 million euros per year. Reusing health and genetic data would also make it possible to identify other individual health risks early on. For example, when inviting people for cancer screening, in addition to a person’s gender and age, other characteristics associated with a higher risk of cancer could be taken into account as well, which would significantly increase the chance of detecting the disease at an early stage, when it is still easily treatable.

In education, data could be reused to develop tools for early detection of students’ problems and talents, as well as digital solutions for career advice. Based on previous research, the centre notes that if Estonia were able to reduce secondary education dropout rates by half, the country would gain over 50 million euros per age cohort.

In the social sector, data reuse would make it possible to identify risk groups early and prevent job loss through retraining programmes and career counselling. A one percentage point lower unemployment rate would increase the country’s GDP by 800 million euros.

The Foresight Centre points out in its yearbook that although various health service providers, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund and educational institutions collect personal data in the course of performing their tasks, current regulations do not allow the data to be used for purposes other than those for which they were collected. “There are no clear rules regarding data reuse in Estonia, but it is in the interest of both the public and the individual for existing data to be reused for prevention purposes,” said Danilov, adding that the general level of data collection should not increase, meaning that the task of the state is primarily to make better and safer use of existing data.

Danilov stated that the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs has started preparing a legislative intent to develop protective measures for the reuse of personal data in scientific research and policy studies. “This does not yet provide a solution for targeted prevention, but it is a step closer to creating greater clarity in the area of personal data reuse,” she said.

In the yearbook (in Estonian), the Foresight Centre highlights that the proactive provision of preventive measures using personal data definitely requires constitutional assessment and legal protective measures that would ensure that the service does not entail a violation of fundamental rights nor is disproportionate to the goal that has been set.

The yearbook of the Foresight Centre focuses on the economic and social trends studied in 2024. The yearbook can be viewed on the centre’s website (in Estonian).