"According to the justice chancellor, bank secrecy has been violated unlawfully in Estonia. And this is a very fundamental issue that requires an immediate government position: who is specifically responsible for allowing this to happen, whether the government deems it lawful and whether the law should be enforced immediately to stop this illegal use of bank secrecy," said Reinsalu.

"There is reason to be prepared for an extraordinary session of parliament, to provide a legal framework for this issue, as the chancellor of justice has also requested," Reinsalu added.

Reinsalu said the credibility of Estonia's digital state and the protection of personal data have taken a serious hit in the current situation and that urgent action is needed.

In his view, Estonia must redefine the principles that govern the protection of individuals' privacy rights.

"This incident must be assessed from that perspective, and looking ahead, corrections must be made, because a violation of legal norms has occurred. The parliamentary committee overseeing security services should carry out a spot check as soon as possible, with agency heads explaining what they believed to be the legal basis for their actions. The public has no clarity on what has actually happened," said Reinsalu.

He emphasized that Estonia needs a parliamentary-level assessment of who is overseeing the executive branch and who is specifically responsible for what has taken place.

"Secondly, what effective legal safeguards are currently in place, in real time, to put a stop to such activity," the politician added.

"Financial Intelligence Unit Director Matis Mäeker said he would voluntarily suspend use of the data, but I don't think that's sufficient. We need to know what data has been used, on what legal basis and what the current status of that data is — because I'd like to point out that the data has been downloaded," Reinsalu said.

He added that it must be clarified whether cross-queries are already being made or not. "I'd like to remind everyone that the next step in seeking access to bank secrets and personal data specifically involves so-called artificial intelligence processing," Reinsalu said.

"There is widespread public uncertainty about how much data has been downloaded. We need real-time answers — not a report coming out in the fall. Every institution responsible for the trustworthiness of the Estonian state and for its citizens should be making a real-time effort," said Reinsalu.

"The position of the Bank of Estonia is also necessary here," he added.

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