8-4-2009 National:
I'm sure by now everyone has heard of the new iPhone program/service to locate sex offenders homes, if you haven't here is a compilation of information related to this dangerous product/service.
iPhone Dangers: This new program is very dangerous for registered offenders and their families and places children of registrants in severe danger. You must see the video below produced by Vision 20/20 a subsidy of ThinAir Wireless, where they are using Microsoft's "Virtual Earth" for real time photos of RSO homes and street around registrants' homes. Stephen A. Marshall used a laptop computer w/GPS (same logic as iPhone service) to find and kill two Maine registrants.
Hats off to Derek Logue (Oncefallen website) who commented as to the dangerousness of this product in the NY Daily News article. Derek mentioned the possibility of vigilantism and that is very real.
Does this product/service violate law? Yes? Some of you may remember this January 2008 research "Sex Offender Registry Mapping (SORM) Websites" where it was revealed how companies are illegally HACKING into State registry websites -and possibly federal- to obtain information about registrants.
From the P.O.M. Offender Locator site:
"Let the POM Offender Locator do the work to keep you informed!
Vision 20/20 gathers up-to-date information about Registered Offenders from all 50 states and stores it in a comprehensive database."
How do they get passed each state's sign-in routine? States have added "CAPTCHAs" after the last murders of sex offenders by use of the registry.
Well, this is one more SORM product that likely violates the same laws in obtaining information. Also, this service goes further by real time visual imaging pictures of registrants homes, and even allows "STREET VIEWS". The video below walks through a actual example of how to do this using the iPhone.
Beyond the identification and display of registrants homes, we also need to think about the neighbors of registrants. All those homes could have children playing and they would be exposed by this service using the "STREET VIEW," that too is not good.
Law Violated: Under the Adam Walsh Act (Sec. 118(f)) states MUST include a warning on their state registries (which -for the most part- they are not doing, which leaves registrants and their families dangerously at-risk for acts of vigilantism). Let us not forget the vigilante murders of RSOs in Maine and Washington (and others not so widely known, review state by state), and more recently the 13 year old son of a RSO who was shot in the face and killed when he opened the door, in Florida. The AWA Sec. 118(f) is not required on the iPhone product/service!
Secondary Dissemination of Registrant Information: This new iPhone product and all other mapping websites seem to be exempt from the requirements of the Adam Walsh Act. This has to change and all advocates need to be pushing their state lawmakers for changes in state laws to: 1) ADD the warnings to ALL state registries; -AND- 2) To push for new legislation to FORCE all these SORMs into COMPLIANCE with the Adam Walsh Act requirements.
Secondary dissemination is a serious problem because the public frequently is not getting accurate current information. Further, there is no way to correct erroneous information on secondary dissemination sites, which under the Adam Walsh Act (Sec. 118(e)) there is a requirement to explain how such erroneous information may be corrected, on state registries, but does not cover these secondary dissemination sites.
Finally, let us not forget the Florida Clovis Claxton story, whose death was the result of erroneous -and false- secondary dissemination of his registry information.
The deaths of RSOs and the child of one by vigilantes are real, these laws need to be changed! Lawmakers state and federal need to be contacted to make changes!
eAdvocate
Today the New York Daily News has this article "New iPhone app, Offender Locator, uses GPS to locate registered sex offenders near where users live" by Oren Yaniv, about a new program available on iPhones (article below):
Call it the iPerv.
New iPhone applications that allow users to easily locate nearby registered sex offenders are a big hit, helping perturbed parents track down predators.
An app called Offender Locator, which has been out for two months, was No. 3 on the iPhone Store's top-seller list Monday.
It uses the phone's built-in Global Positioning System to display a list of sex crime convicts in a given location.
"They know where you and your family are," an ad for the product warns ominously. "Now it's time to turn the tables."
A competing program dubbed SOS (for Sex Offenders Search) was released late last week to rave reviews. Its interactive map lets users simply tap on the screen and get more information and a picture of a potential perv.
"The more sunlight we hit sex offenders with, the less space they can crawl into," said City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), who heads the Public Safety Committee.
Trip Wakefield, CEO of ThinAir Wireless, which released Offender Locator, called his product "a convenience tool."
It costs 99 cents, a dollar less than SOS. Both use information that is available free online.
The mobile device can come in handy for home hunters or parents at a new playground.
Not everybody's happy.
"It's a dangerous thing," said Derek Logue, who runs a support Web site for sex offenders.
He said it could increase vigilantism, and noted that some registries include people who pose little danger.
He also blasted the companies for selling free information.
"Not only sex sells - but sex offenders sell," Logue said.
Roberto Franceschetti, who came up with the SOS app, knows that. He sold 2,000 of them in five days.
"This was our first [iPhone app]," he said. "Seeing the response, it won't be our last."
3 comments:
This is essentially "stalking" in some states. I think a great competitor app would be one that shows the homes of those who have gotten speeding tickets, domestic violence, drunk driving, and of course politicians. I bet someone would cry foul if that happened. What's the difference??? It's all public information but it depends on who it victimizes that gets reaction.
This is very dangerous! It should be unconstitutional. The RSOS' are already on the internet & newspapers. Why don't you do this to murderers? Why is is S/o only? I am not taking up for them but, enough is enough.I think this is just a big money game.You need to think twice about this.It's an injustice. If they are so dangerous why let them out of prison?
Anyone that follows or harasses me will find the tables turned
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