Data protection agency blocks access to Treimann-Legrant website

The Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate ordered access to the ettevaatust.ee website suspended on Tuesday, ERR reported. The website was created by blogger and content creator Mallu Mariann Treimann-Legrant and her husband, Tomas Märten Legrant.

Web hosting provider Zone told Tomas Märten Legrant that public access to the website had been restricted under an enforcement order from the inspectorate. The website owners can still access its files through the file manager and view the homepage using separate login details.

Zone said public access could be restored only with the inspectorate’s confirmation or consent.

The website, created by the non-profit association Ettevaatust, compiles profiles of people convicted of sexual and intimate partner violence. Users can view information about the convicted person with direct links to the criminal records register.

In June, the inspectorate ordered the website to stop this activity, saying it operated as an alternative criminal records register. The agency demanded the removal of the perpetrators’ names, photographs and references to court judgments. The website operator was required to comply by June 29.

“A criminal records register, and this resembles a criminal records register, may be maintained only by the state or under state supervision,” inspectorate Director General Pille Lehis said.

Mallu Mariann Treimann-Legrant, the website’s original co-creator, disagreed with the decision in June. “Why does this have to be regulated? Why does the state have such an overwhelming need to protect criminals? I am not talking about some random pickpocket. I am talking about criminals who permanently ruin the lives of small children and women. Why do they need to be protected?” she said.