No. 50

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What is the future of the personal state in Estonia?

14 January 2025

Studies

RiTo No. 50, 2024

The personal state adapts public services and benefits to the needs of every citizen on the basis of data, increasing the efficiency and availability of services and ensuring privacy, autonomy and equal treatment.

At the same time, large-scale data processing raises questions about privacy protection, inequalities due to the lack of digital competences, and the risks of data leaks. Proactive service provision needs a societal debate in order to ensure that, alongside savings on costs, the role of people in decision-making processes will be preserved and the transparency of the system would be ensured. The challenge is to balance the technological opportunities and ethical considerations to avoid a situation where people become passive data subjects.

Future scenarios of the Foresight Centre: “Available solutions” highlights consent-based systems, but the risks here are administrative burden and increased inequality. “Limited resources” focuses on income-based benefits, but could lead to a complex and unstable system. “Data-based prevention” focuses on preventing health and social risks and improving transparency through data trackers, but raises questions about automated decisions and reducing the autonomy of citizens.

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