Ajatuspaja obtained the women’s information from the population register, referring to a study by the University of Tartu. According to the university, the research was not theirs, but a professor connected to the think tank was involved.
TALLINN 25 years old Elina Masing presents the screenshots he made from his phone screen. In the pictures, the Pere sihtkapital or Family Foundation think-tank questions, among other things, his sexual orientation, mental health and political stance.
– The questions were attitudinal and politicized. They were intrusive, even though I’m not afraid to tell anything about myself.
Masing answered the survey, but took it as a starting point to help the authors of the survey by giving thorough feedback. He was already disturbed by the introductory text of the survey. It read that the purpose is to find out the most important factors affecting childlessness.
– I was like, what is this? I’m 25 and already childless!
Population register data is usually not disclosed
In Estonia, people have wondered how the population register quickly gave the IDs, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of 24,000 women for the use of a relatively unknown think tank.
The dean of the University of Tartu has become the key person Raul Eames, a 59-year-old professor of macroeconomics. Namely, Eamets also belongs to the supervisory board of the Pere sihtkapital think tank.
According to the law, neither the think tank nor the market research company it used would have received the information they wanted from the population register. So Eamets signed a cooperation agreement with the think tank on behalf of the university.
The university’s reputation was the trump card, on the basis of which the population register agreed to hand over the information.
According to the University of Tartu, Eamets exceeded his authority and violated both ethical rules and the law. He was fired from his position as a professor at the beginning of last week.
also asked Eamets himself for a comment, but he refused, referring to the unfinished police investigation. The police started an investigation into a possible obstruction violation a day after he was fired.
For Estonian Public Radio, Raul Eamets is admitted that he made a mistakebut considers his dismissal illegal.
“I would have understood the questions in the 1990s”
37 years old Janne Lauk is often involved with social research for his work. At first glance, he could not suspect the survey that popped into his email, because he has lived abroad for a long time and did not know anything about the background of the think tank that ordered it.
In addition, the reference to the University of Tartu sounded like a guarantee of quality.
– But then when I got to the questions myself… I felt like a walking womb, Lauk tells by phone.
According to him, many questions were formulated in such a way that there were not even all the answer options he wanted.
– For example, “how many children should an Estonian have”. It ruled out childlessness as an acceptable and conscious choice, Lauk reflects.
The whole survey approach – “why don’t you have children?” – smelled very old, according to him.
– The questions would still be as understood in the 1990s. But that in the 21st century people are asked such a thing…
The questions were perceived as very embarrassing
The third woman interviewed by remains anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject. However, her identity is known to the editorial office and has confirmed that the woman received the questionnaires on August 7.
– I think childlessness is a very personal decision and belongs to no one but me and my partner, the woman tells .
So he was very surprised that the small think tank and the market research company it used had access to his information.
– The more I looked at the questions, the more annoyed I became. They penetrated my childhood, my wallet, my bedroom and my mental health… at the point when they started asking about my political position, I decided not to answer, the woman states.
The material was destroyed against the instructions of the Data Protection Agency
The turmoil surrounding the case continues despite the fact that the Pere sihtkapital think tank decided to abandon the investigation after the case became public.
A workshop of ideas namely destroyed all the personal and response data it collects. This, in turn, was against the instructions of the Estonian Data Protection Agency. Office started an investigation last week and about the activities of the think tank, the market research company it uses, and the University of Tartu.
In addition, the Data Protection Agency plans to investigate the actions of the Ministry of the Interior, which maintains the population register. The information destroyed by the think tank would have been important for the investigation.
Janne Lauk considers the whole case unfortunate in two ways.
– For my work, I think about all the damage when it is difficult to get people involved in research anyway. And I personally feel that I might not answer the next survey.