The first-tier Tallinn Administrative Court had been requested by the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs to dismiss the application, stating that it had been filed against the wrong party, i.e. the ministry itself.

The site, ettevaatust.ee, was set up last month by influencer Mallukas, real name Mallu Mariann Treimann-Legrant, and her husband Tomas Märten Legrant, and carried information, much of it in the public domain, about individuals who had been convicted of sex crimes and also of violent crime; the appeal filed with the administrative court on March 23 requested the ministry be ordered to shut down the website.

The plaintiff said the site had published incorrect information about the applicant, causing them damage and harm to themselves and to unrelated third parties, but a court ruling made public on April 2 found that the justice ministry played no part in the setting up or maintaining of ettevaatust.ee; it is not culpable in the matter.

In the court's view, the applicant also failed to convincingly justify which specific false statements had been made about them and what damage had been caused, also adding that the claims in the application concerning the protection of individuals other than the plaintiff were outside the court's purview.

The court also agreed with the justice ministry's position that while the ministry conducts administrative supervision over the Data Protection Inspectorate (AKI), that agency is responsible for carrying out the actual state supervision.

The site created by the Legrants went live on March 18, permitting users to upload data about individuals who have been judicially punished for sexual offenses and violence, including names, photos, and court rulings — the latter is publicly available information which can be obtained from the State Gazette (Riigi Teataja).

The site's creators claimed this was doing a public service in, for instance, allowing members of the public to vet those who they may have dealings with.

The AKI stated just days after the site went online that it plans to investigate ettevaatust.ee over potential data protection violations, having received "many" complaints.

The site may breach rules on transparency, purpose, and data control, the AKI said at the time, stressing republishing even already public data still requires compliance with data protection laws.

Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200) had said Estonia already has a regulated system for accessing criminal records and that unofficial "exposure lists" risk false accusations and harm affecting innocent people, for instance those who share a name with one of the people listed on the site.

Soon after launch, Mallukas defended the project as needed, rejecting "right to be forgotten" concepts, and said she "did not care" whether it violated current law.

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