Justice Chancellor: Trail cameras should be treated like other surveillance

Estonia's Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, has issued a formal reminder regarding the use of wildlife trail cameras. While these devices are popular for observing local fauna, they frequently capture images of individuals passing through public or private forests. Madise emphasizes that such footage must be handled in strict accordance with existing data protection regulations. Owners of these cameras are legally responsible for how they process and store any identifiable human imagery. The guidance aims to ensure that the hobby of wildlife monitoring does not infringe upon the privacy rights of citizens.

This clarification establishes that privacy laws apply to automated surveillance tools, regardless of their primary intent to capture animal behavior.