Estonia's Justice Ministry Wants to Restrict Access to Outdated Commercial Register Data

Estonia's Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs has launched a tender to find an expert who will analyse which Commercial Register data should be closed to public access in future. The register is the state's company database, and it currently holds data that is several decades old. The ministry wants to strike a balance between a transparent business environment and citizens' privacy.

Marget Pae, head of the ministry's civil law department, says data protection problems linked to the register are becoming more common. The ministry has received complaints that various types of data are too freely available online. The register contains 17 million documents.

Which data could be closed

Pae explains that, to protect personal data, it can sometimes make sense to remove certain categories of data from public access entirely and allow people to see them only when they have a legitimate interest. As examples she cites minutes of apartment association meetings and other documents containing large amounts of personal data.

The analysis will not cover the personal identification codes of foreigners. Estonian ID codes will remain public, since many services are built on them. Foreigners' codes, however, mean different things in different European Union member states, and a provision on hiding them is already in a bill before the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament.

No time limit on access

Another problem is that data remains available indefinitely. If a person is no longer a company board member, the register still shows that they once were. This lets parties to transactions check whom they are dealing with. Pae stresses that the register's purpose is not to disclose personal data but to provide information about those who offer services on the market.

She acknowledges that cases where data protection outweighs transparency are very rare. Still, one can ask whether 30-year-old data should be as accessible as current data. Many requests come from people who still appear as former board members or liquidators of companies that were struck off the register 20 years ago.

The Data Protection Inspectorate has criticised the ministry several times, which is why the issue is now being addressed systematically. The ministry expects a balanced solution from the analysis by the end of the year, after which society will be able to discuss more widely what closing part of the data would cost.