Automation at the gate: can internal security volunteer applications be pre-screened?

Abstract

This article examines the legality of introducing a databased pre-screening stage in the application procedure for internal security volunteers in Estonia. It asks under what conditions automated pre-screening at the outset of administrative procedures can be considered lawful. Three models are analysed: first, a technical solution that prevents the submission of an application following a negative pre-screening result; second, a model in which applications may always be submitted but are subsequently refused by a human official; and third, a model providing for an automated preliminary administrative act determining compliance with objective statutory criteria. The analysis demonstrates that within the Estonian constitutional framework, a technical prohibition on submitting an application is incompatible with guarantees of access to public authorities, effective judicial protection, and the rules on automated decision-making laid down in the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union. By contrast, two models are legally viable: allowing submission in all cases with subsequent human decision-making, or issuing an automated preliminary administrative act strictly limited to non-discretionary criteria and supported by an explicit legal basis and safeguards. The article argues that a carefully designed pre-screening stage can promote the principle of data minimisation while preserving individual rights and judicial oversight, and proposes a model that may be transferable to other administrative procedures involving objective exclusion criteria.