Health Record Rights Index · country brief · this country's data as of October 2, 2026
Who holds the health record in Estonia?
In 2026, Estonia scores 68 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record. It is one of five countries that lead the 198 countries and territories we rated, in the Strong band (65 to 84). Who holds the keys: you and the health system. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 2, 2026.
The person has real controls inside a government or provider system. Its strongest right, compared with the typical country, is one record across your care (80 out of 100, against 38 for the typical country). No right falls below the typical country; the closest to it is your say over research use (50 out of 100, against 46 for the typical country).
Every provider must feed one national record that patients can read, log-check and close, but police and security services can query it without consent.
Published · updated · this country's data as of October 2, 2026 · research tool, not legal advice
overall score · Strong band, 65 to 84
68/100
rank among 198 countries and territories; likely 1st to 13th, allowing for scoring error
In 2026, getting your full record scores 80 out of 100 in Estonia; the typical country scores 40 to 45. The Health Portal shows documents, prescriptions, invoices and access logs, kept without time limit, and 60% of people aged 16 to 74 read records online in 2024 (EU 28%). Source: Riigi Teataja, June 30, 2026, and the other sources below.
Who controls health records in Estonia?
In 2026, you and the health system hold the keys to your health record in Estonia. Control over who sees it scores 68 out of 100 in Estonia; the typical country scores 30. Patients can close their whole record or single documents in the portal and read a logbook of who viewed each document. Uploads need no consent, prescription views are not in the portal log, and police can obtain data for criminal proceedings without consent. Source: Riigi Teataja, June 30, 2026, and the other sources below.
How does Estonia compare?
In 2026, Estonia scores 68 out of 100, against 39 for the typical country. This brief compares it with Hungary (68 out of 100), Sweden (67 out of 100) and Denmark (70 out of 100). Source: the ranking of all 198 countries and territories.
Eight rights, compared with Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, the typical EU country and the typical country
Scores out of 100, by right
Getting your full record20%
80
72 · 77 · 78
Control over who sees it20%
68
72 · 72 · 70
Privacy and security15%
55
62 · 64 · 62
One record across your care15%
80
78 · 66 · 82
Protection from sale and ads10%
58
55 · 60 · 58
Doctors see it when treating you10%
75
76 · 64 · 78
Your say over research use5%
50
47 · 49 · 49
Rules for AI in your care5%
50
54 · 50 · 50
Black dot: Estonia. Hollow dots: Hungary, Sweden, Denmark (scores out of 100 on the right, same order). Gray line: the typical country of all 198. Dashed teal line: the typical EU country. Overall: Estonia 68 out of 100, the typical EU country 61. Scores move in steps of about 5 points, so read a rank with its likely range.
What would Estonia need to change to score higher?
Estonia sits in Strong (65 to 84); Leading starts at 85. Every right is at or above the typical country. The two with the most room to grow, weighted by how much each counts, are privacy and security (55 out of 100, against 45 for the typical country) and control over who sees it (68 out of 100, against 30 for the typical country). Our scoring rules give more points for:
Privacy and security: A health data regulator that is independent and actually acts: it decides cases about health records, breaches must be reported, and fines are applied.
Control over who sees it: A way to say no to sharing (or to be asked first), a log you can read of who opened your record, and finer choices about who sees what. Together these put this right at 60 to 80 out of 100.
Which laws give health record rights in Estonia?
Health Services Organisation Act (Tervishoiuteenuste korraldamise seadus) (2001): Mandatory uploads to the national record, patient access and right to block providers, consent exceptions, research fees.
Government Regulation No. 138, Statute of the Health Information System (2016): Portal contents, closing records, representatives, 30-year logs and the patient's view of access logs.
Personal Data Protection Act (Isikuandmete kaitse seadus) (2018): Applies GDPR; section 6 allows research without consent, mainly pseudonymised, with ethics committee checks.
Doctors, waits and private care context, not part of the score
Doctors per 10,000
34.9 2023 · 24th highest of 38 OECD countries
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
70.4 2023 · 26th highest of 38 OECD countries
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
23.0% 2023 · 19th highest of 35 OECD countries
Record reaches private care?
partly
"Levinud on arusaam, et tasuliste teenuste andmeid ei pea tervise infosüsteemi esitama, mis tekitab andmelünki."
Real cases
December 5, 2025 · Riigikontroll (National Audit Office of Estonia), report to the Riigikogu · archived copy Provider ignored a patient's request to correct entries in the national health system
December 5, 2025 · Riigikontroll (National Audit Office of Estonia), report to the Riigikogu · archived copy Patient found portal entries from a doctor they were not registered with
In 2026, Estonia scored 68 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record, one of five countries that lead the 198 countries and territories we rated, in the Strong band. Who holds the keys: you and the health system. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 2, 2026, https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/estonia/
The 21 sources for Estonia
Each source appears once, under the first right it supports. Titles are shown as our research agents recorded them, usually in the page's own language; text in square brackets is our machine translation. Links were checked on the date shown.
Getting your full record (4 sources)
“Tervishoiuteenuste korraldamise seadus (Health Services Organisation Act), consolidated text from 01.10.2026, sections 59¹ to 59³” [Health Services Organisation Act, consolidated text from 01.10.2026, sections 59¹ to 59³] our machine translation
Riigi Teataja (law or regulation) · Title in Estonian
Dated June 30, 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Control over who sees it; One record across your care; Protection from sale and ads; Doctors see it when treating you; Your say over research use
“Tervise infosüsteemi põhimäärus (Government Regulation No. 138 on the health information system), sections 16 to 21” [Statutes of the health information system (Government Regulation No. 138), sections 16 to 21] our machine translation
Riigi Teataja (law or regulation) · Title in Estonian
Dated March 28, 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Privacy and security
“Allium UPI-le määratud 3 miljoni euro suurune trahv oli kohtu hinnangul põhjendatud” [The court found the 3 million euro fine imposed on Allium UPI to be justified] our machine translation
Andmekaitse Inspektsioon [Data Protection Inspectorate] (regulator) · Title in Estonian
Dated September 2, 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Isikuandmete kaitse seadus (Personal Data Protection Act), consolidated text from 01.10.2026, section 6” [Personal Data Protection Act, consolidated text from 01.10.2026, section 6] our machine translation
Riigi Teataja (law or regulation) · Title in Estonian
Dated June 30, 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Tähelepanu juhtimine: üldotstarbelise tehisintellekti kasutamine tervishoius” [Drawing attention: use of general-purpose artificial intelligence in healthcare] our machine translation
Andmekaitse Inspektsioon [Data Protection Inspectorate] (regulator) · Title in Estonian
Dated May 7, 2026 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
SuperTruth Inc. · 24 S. 24th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA · +1 215 918 4140 · supertruth.ai Something wrong? Tell us · Questions or a briefing: supertruth.ai/on-the-record#contact · Full index: healthrecordrights.com
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI™: the Data Trust Index, which grades the evidence behind each score. SuperTruth makes it and publishes this index. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/estonia/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Our scores and our own words are CC BY 4.0; quoted law and source titles stay with their owners.
