Promulgating the law, Karis emphasized it does not endorse past practices.

As required by the Law Enforcement Act, "camera placement must be based on a written, specific threat assessment showing absolute necessity at a particular location," he said Monday.

Past installations had sometimes not been properly evaluated, he added, noting that internal checks by the PPA revealed cameras were occasionally placed on insufficient grounds or none at all.

The Estonian head of state stressed that the law must be evaluated according to the Law Enforcement Act, not past practices. Section 34 allows surveillance equipment to identify or counter  specific threats, not abstract or hypothetical ones.

Karis said the need for cameras has often been justified with general assumptions, like covering major criminal routes — which could theoretically require monitoring the entire traffic network.

He acknowledged police need modern tools but also emphasized public trust, saying it's vital that road users don't feel like they're constantly being monitored.

The law allows temporary placement of cameras, which must be continually reassessed and "removed again if a concrete threat no longer exists."

The president also noted the same rules apply to drone cameras and other surveillance tools.

"This is a fundamental question of whether 'just-in-case' monitoring is allowed or whether data only starts being collected once a specific threat arises," Karis said. The new law follows the latter approach.

The Riigikogu approved the law of amendments on October 8. In addition to the PPA and security agencies, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (MTA) will also have access to license plate recognition data.

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