Husband and wife team Mariann Treimann-Legrant and Tomas Märten Legrant hit the headlines last month when their site, ettevaatust.ee, went live, raising data protection, privacy and right to be forgotten issues.

The pair told "Impulss" they do not make money from the site, and only intend it for the public good.

Treimann-Legrant, also known as Mallukas, was already a well-known influencer and reality show star.

While the national criminal register (Riiklik karistusregister) has been publicly available for 14 years now, the Mallukas register, as it has become known, created a stir once it went online last month. While the website formally belongs to the NGO Ettevaatust, headed by Tomas Legrant, the idea for creating it came from Mallukas herself after she heard about a case involving a riding school in Tartu. The school's former director had been convicted of sexual intercourse with a minor – the age of consent in Estonia is 16 – yet until recently the individual had still been employed at the same riding center.

The ettevaatust.ee site also aggregates publicly available information on those convicted of domestic violence.

"I believe that sex offenders and those people who commit domestic violence are exactly those that the public should be warned about; I am not saying that people should not be warned about thieves and scammers. Absolutely, I simply think that violence directed at women and children is the most important thing to know about in terms of safety," Treimann-Legrant explained to "Impulss."

The individuals visible on the website together with information and, in some cases, photos have been added to the site over time. Treimann-Legrant said these are but a small fraction of the people she gets messages about in her inbox. To an extent, Treimann-Legrant has become something of a confidante for many people, someone they can tell their stories to, she added.

"These conversations are never very easy, plus I am also in contact a lot with the police as it is not only adults who write to me. First, I will ask a police officer whether there might still be grounds here, whether it still makes sense to go to the police even if the matter may already be outdated," the blogger said.

The website, born from a passing idea one evening, went live in March within just 24 hours of its inception. It works simply: People, anyone, can upload a name, court ruling, date of birth, and photograph of an individual convicted of sexual or domestic violence by an Estonian court. Court case information is available, for instance, from the State Gazette (Riigi Teataja) site. Legrant said she and a volunteer conduct verification checks on the accuracy of all information received. Looking back on the site's launch, Treimann-Legrant said while she had anticipated what kinds of problems might arise and how to solve them, the scale and intensity of some of the pushback caught her off guard.

"But I will honestly say that I did not immediately think that people would try to take us, this site, down — and not state officials, but hackers, who still try to do that every day," Treimann-Legrant recounted.

Despite the checks, issues have also arisen with namesakes, or people with similar-sounding names. Some social media commenters had, for instance, been surprised to find the name Vallo Toomet on the ettevaatust.ee site. This was not the prominent journalist, however, but another individual with the same name, convicted of sexually soliciting a minor 10 years ago.

The confusion can also stretch to photos of the innocent being put up alongside the name of someone who has been convicted. Tomas Märten Legrant said this happened with someone he knew.

"An acquaintance of mine wrote to me yesterday and asked: Why is my picture there? The personal identification number did not match his; he has the same name and birth year, but they are different people. That is a good example where he had no problem with the fact that his picture was there. He said, 'I am not upset, just please delete it, because that is not me,'" Märten Legrant said.

"The only people who have a problem are those who genuinely have something to hide, who try to present themselves in a better light than they really are, who do not want their past to come out, as it would make their lives more difficult," he added, confirming that they remove the photo if necessary.

From the outset, questions had arisen over whether creating such a register is either legal or ethical; whether it may lead to vigilantism. Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200) had been critical of self-made databases, where neither accuracy nor protection against false accusations is guaranteed. According to Treimann-Legrant, she has received feedback about people found in the register who have had their rental agreements or employment contracts terminated as a result of their appearance on the list.

"So what should be done with these people? I cannot say, honestly, I cannot. I do not know how to answer that question. Perhaps at this point, wiser people really need to step in. You tell me," he continued.

Legrant denied job losses, for instance, amounted to vigilante justice.

"I do not believe that any of them — save perhaps for a few of those who committed crimes — have themselves been physically beaten because of what they did. If you lose your job, can that really be called vigilante justice? I can't go along with that," Legrant added.

The couple did note that since the website went live, it has led to threats made against them, some of which have caused them alarm.

For one thing, in something of a case of people in glass houses, Legrant has been convicted a total of five times – not of violent or sexual crimes, but of fraud – even serving prison time as a result.

Mallukas made a distinction between fraud against large corporations compared with against the ordinary person.

"Yes, everyone likes to point out that my husband was a criminal and committed fraud against the banks. For example, it would be very difficult for me to trust him if he had individually scammed some ordinary people somewhere," she said.
Tomas said for his part he would also have nothing against a register of fraudsters, also due to the distinction above.

"I strongly believe that it is very good when there is a register of fraudsters as well. This is because there is a difference between one fraudster and another. There is a big difference between taking money from a bank, and taking money from an elderly person, whose last savings those were," Legrant said.

He added he was a reformed character, though this had not always been easy. "It is possible to turn over a new leaf in life, though it is difficult. I will say honestly: It is not easy, especially when a person has been used to living a certain way for a lengthy period of time. When I turned my back on that life, I actually went and got a real job at first, as I was afraid that otherwise I might start with scheming again," he confided.

This capacity for repentance does not extend to pedophiles, however, in Legrant's view. "I don't believe that," he said, in response to the question of whether these types of offenders can reform.

Up to now, the state Data Protection Inspectorate (AKI) has initiated supervisory proceedings on ettevaatust.ee. Treimann-Legrant has said she will not be taking the site down, even if it is found to be unlawful, a line she took from the outset, noting she had the funds to fight a legal case, even as the site has become something of a millstone.

"I am simply in the relatively unique position of having enough money to go to court if someone sues me," she continued, adding: "Frankly, I do not want this website whatsoever anymore. By now it has become so burdensome, but we have started it, so we will have to go on with it."

In her opinion, people have developed distrust toward the justice system, where punishments for sex offenders are too lenient.

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