Minors fake their age on Eesti.ee to enter bars and clubs

Minors are altering personal details displayed on Estonia’s state portal Eesti.ee to appear old enough to enter bars and clubs, ERR reports. The Information System Authority (RIA) is aware of the practice but says it cannot stop it.

Programmer Krister Viirsaar said browser tools can change what appears on a user’s screen without altering any information in a database or state system. The change affects only the text displayed at that moment. On a computer, he said, it can take about 10 seconds and does not amount to hacking; instructions are readily available online.

Veiko Raime, owner of Tallinn bar Möku, said customers generally show physical identification, but security staff also accept identity checks through Eesti.ee. Reports of minors using the trick came as a surprise, he said.

RIA technology development department head Õie-Mari Aasmäe said Eesti.ee’s web view is intended for people to check their own information and use public services, not to prove their identity or age. The law does not allow it to be used for that purpose, and businesses such as bars and clubs should not accept the portal’s web view on a phone as proof of identity or age.

People who have left their ID card or passport at home can instead use the Eesti app, a government mobile application in which users cannot change their date of birth or age. Businesses are not required to accept the app, however, and may ask customers to show physical identification. Aasmäe said displaying personal information on a phone is treated essentially the same as stating it verbally.

Raime said the issue may partly stem from poor communication with security staff. In conversations with them, he said, it became clear they may not distinguish between the Eesti.ee website and the Eesti app.