According to Riho Kerge, Head of the State Data Exchange Department, the use of the consent service allows private companies to offer people innovative and personalised services based on their personal data. ‘Our aim is to provide a secure and transparent way for users to share their personal data stored in state registers with private companies that have joined the consent service, and a single channel to manage the consents they have given. The consent service is a convenience service and its use is voluntary. It is up to each individual to decide whether they want to share their data or accept that they cannot use the service in the most convenient way. We are encouraging businesses to implement the consent service in their services,’ said Kerge.
The recent surge in the number of the consent service users was boosted when e-Perearstikeskus joined the consent service in April this year. The number of users has tripled compared to the end of the year, and as at today, the consent service has been used by 20% of adults in Estonia.
‘The consent service is now available in e-Perearstikeskus upon logging in and, as with trying anything new, it requires additional actions and clicks for the user to familiarise themselves with the capabilities of the service. We are currently asking users for consent to obtain their health insurance details to determine the insurance of the patient and the practice list of their family physician. The consent service will create many opportunities to develop new convenience services for patients, and work on this is already underway,’ said Olev-Mait Makk, representative of e-Perearstikeskus.
The consent service will provide a centralised solution for managing the use of personal data, enabling the development of a data-driven and personalised economy and driving innovation across Europe.
The consent service is a voluntary convenience service developed by RIA that allows people to give the state permission to share their personal data with a specific service provider and with a pre-agreed data set for a fixed period of time to receive personalised services. In addition to a convenient way to give your consent to a service provider, the state portal eesti.ee also enables the logged-in user to see all the consents they have given under the menu item ‘Consent service’: their content, expiry date, usage history, and statistics. It also allows the user to withdraw consent at any time. It gives people a better overview of the activities and actions related to their data.
The General Data Protection Regulation enhances the protection of personal data. The consent service, however, gives people control over the sharing of their data. Its advantages are convenience, transparency, and security. The consent service sets out requirements for organisations to process data responsibly, ensuring the protection and security of personal data.
A valid strong authentication tool such as an ID card, Mobile-ID, or Smart-ID is required to use the service.
More information on the consent service
If you have any questions, please contact customer support by email at [email protected].
