Woman raises safety concerns over Latvian Halloween treats map
A woman has voiced concerns on Facebook about the website saldumukarte.lv, where residents mark addresses at which children can collect sweets on 31 October. She says nobody verifies who an address belongs to.
As Halloween grows more popular in Latvia, a woman named Ksenija has publicly urged people to think about safety in connection with the interactive map saldumukarte.lv. On the map, residents can mark their addresses so that on 31 October, Halloween night, children know which doors they can visit for sweets.
Ksenija says she likes the idea itself, but after looking at how the map works, she was left with several questions.
The concerns
According to her findings, adding an address only requires entering it and confirming an email address. No identity check, such as Smart-ID or an electronic signature, is required. For comparison, she cites the ride service "Bolt Lady Taxi", which requires users to upload an identity document.
Another problem, she says, is that it is possible to enter someone else's address, such as a neighbour's or a former partner's, without that person knowing. Children hoping for sweets could then knock on the door of someone who never planned to take part.
Her main concern is children's safety. Parents teach children not to go with strangers or enter unfamiliar apartments, but a public map of addresses may give the impression that every listed place has been checked and is safe.
Recommendations
Ksenija stresses that she does not consider participants to have bad intentions and accepts that most simply want to make children happy. Still, in her view, safety cannot rest on the assumption that everyone will act in good faith.
She urges parents to discuss safety with their children before the holiday: explain that a mark on the map does not mean a person has been vetted, not to enter strangers' homes, to have younger children go with adults, and to remember they may refuse a treat. She suggests the project's organisers consider an additional verification mechanism to confirm that a person has agreed to publish their address.
She does not want to ban Halloween, but asks adults to stay cautious, and asks others whether her concerns are justified.
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