Concerned parents (and curious neighbors) can now search the entire state database without leaving the cozy confines of their social networking. The list is searchable by last name, county, and zip code. Only level 2 and level 3 offenders (those designated with medium and high risk, respectively) will be visible via the Facebook app. By law, the state can only give info about level 1 offenders over the phone, and even then, the inquiring individual must have a specific identifier like a name or exact address of the possible offender.

That still gives them access to tons of names. According to the state records, there are currently 11,685 level 2 offenders and 8,163 level 3 offenders on the registry. All in all, New York state has around 33,000 registered sex offenders with 150 being added every month.

“Knowledge is power. New Yorkers now have another way to access up-to-date information about sex offenders in their neighborhoods,” DCJS (Division of Criminal Justice Services) Acting Commissioner Sean M. Byrne said. “With Halloween around the corner, parents now have another tool to learn where offenders live so they can ensure their children stay away from those locations, as well as strangers’ homes. The Facebook app puts that important information at parents’ fingertips, whether they are at home or on the go.”

So cautious parents have the ability to check their Halloween routes for sex offenders. The only problem with this is that there are a lot of names to go through. For instance, there are over 500 names on the list for Albany county alone. Once you click on a specific offender, you can view his current address on a map, as well as see a photo and other identifying information. But there isn’t a large map view that shows all of the registered offenders in the area. So unless you have a specific name in mind, it could take awhile.

Nonetheless, the app already has 10,000 active users and has received positive reviews so far.

Do you think that it’s good to have this type of information available on Facebook? Should other states follow suit? Or do you think that it’s a bit over the top? Let us know in the comments.

Sometimes, depending on where you live, a sex offender can be someone who went streaking at a ballgame, or somebody busted at the local rub-and-tug. The definition can be very broad, and degrees of offense can be expansive.

The KIDS Act, passed in New Jersey, like proposed laws in other states, would prevent these types of sex offenders from using a "computer or any other device with Internet capability," unless it is for work-related purposes.

Parole officers would regularly supervise, of course.

Now, when it comes to child molesters/rapists, I don’t have any interest in getting into recidivism rates or debates about the effectiveness of rehabilitation, as in this InternetNews.com article; as far as I’m concerned they should be sentenced to a slow, tortuous death via means similar to the nature of their offense (i.e., something horribly invasive and icky). That’s why I can’t be king; my vengeance would be great.

But aside from the broad definition of what makes someone a sex offender, Technology and Marketing Law Blog writer Eric Goldman points out that the New Jersey law suffers from grammatical ambiguity that will eventually make it overreaching. Ten years into the future, for example, a device with Internet capability could be mean just about anything.

Goldman writes, "A TiVo can access the Internet–is that off-limits to sex offenders? When a refrigerator is Internet-accessible, will that be off-limits? Cars are Internet-connected; are they off-limits too? This law makes about as much sense as banning sex offenders from using our road system (which they also use to commit their crimes)."

Yes, that could be a problem. Like I said, I don’t really care what awful things befall the molesters, but blocking access to the Internet because an 18-year-old kid stripped off and ran across a football field seems a little excessive and potentially problematic. 
 

Remember that Facebook may be trying to prove it’s worth $10 to $15 billion; a legal battle in which the company appeared to be defending sex offenders wouldn’t do it a lot of good.

Neither would cooperating with the AG, though, if it turned out that a bunch of unsavory individuals were hanging about.  AllFacebook’s Nick O’Neill recalls, “Everyone remembers all the buzz surrounding MySpace and sexual predators.  It looks like Facebook is now the new site to receive the same negative buzz.”

Facebook’s (potentially) facing a no-win situation.  It has until October 12th to react to the subpoena, so whatever its decision, the social network will have to move quickly.  The best response, in terms of public relations, might be some sort of proactive sweep.  But this solution would require even faster work.

Facebook did not immediately return a call requesting comment, but it’s fair to guess that the company is taking the subpoena seriously.

In fact, Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general, told the New York Times, “There is no question that Facebook is encountering some of the same problems that MySpace has posed.  They should be held accountable, and we intend to do so.”

That opens up the whole issue of who’s to blame, of course; call me a pessimist, but it seems like a few unsavory individuals are going to turn up in any crowd.  Then again, Blumenthal isn’t arguing that point.  Following the introduction of Facebook’s “open door” policy, he said, “I have observed its mutation into a somewhat different kind of site.  There are now some troubling aspects to its features and culture that were absent before.”

So where does this leave Facebook?  Thus far, the site has removed profiles on a case-by-case basis as they’ve been brought to its attention.  It’s not exactly the most efficient method, and as the existence of the NYT piece implies, it hasn’t been enough to satisfy all of Facebook’s critics.

As for the future, “[T]he company has proposed building a database of names and e-mail addresses for convicted sexual offenders that could be compared to the membership rolls of Internet sites,” according to the Times.  “For that approach to work, however, Facebook would have to wait until all 50 states had passed legislation requiring sex-offenders to register their e-mail addresses.  Currently such legislation is signed or pending in 13 states.”

29,000 Sex Offenders Found On MySpace

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper claimed as of July 2007, MySpace has discovered more than 29,000 registered sex offender profiles in its membership.

That figure is four times more than the original estimate MySpace made. As Cooper pointed out, this just accounts for the offenders who registered under their real names.

Many more could be present, registered under pseudonyms, or currently not known to law enforcement as sex offenders yet. Cooper also said a review of publicly reported incidents in media reports of crimes involving adults using MySpace topped 100 through the first six months of 2007.

Cooper wants MySpace to require parental permission for minors to register, and for the site to verify the person giving permission has the authority to do so. MySpace has resisted having such impositions placed upon its signup process.

Several states have pushed MySpace to verify the ages of members signing up for the service. Cooper cited how age verification is in use for alcohol, tobacco, movies, gambling, and financial institutions. He wants to see MySpace follow that example.

MySpace does not want to see its younger userbase threatened, but also resists such verification measures likely because they could push current and potential users away from MySpace to competing websites.

The "intelligence" will be provided to the Multi-State Attorney General Committee in order for them to pursue predators that have been trolling the site. MySpace says it has been working closely with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina’s Roy Cooper.

"In addition to immediately removing registered sex offenders from MySpace, our plans have always been to provide the information collected by Sentinel SAFE to law enforcement, including the Attorneys General,” said Mike Angus, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Fox Interactive Media. 

“We’re pleased to have worked with Attorneys General Blumenthal and Cooper to devise a solution that allows us to provide this information in a way that enables law enforcement to use it in criminal investigations and probation or parole proceedings.

MySpace rose to extreme popularity shortly after News Corp. bought the site for $580 million, a noticeable bargain just under two years later, when MySpace controls 80% of the social networking market.

But with that popularity came creeping the trolls looking for underage victims. Parents and Congress rose up quickly and loudly, lambasting MySpace for not doing enough to combat sexual predation on the site.

Because of that, MySpace hired on Hemanshu Nigam, now the site’s Chief Security Officer, to develop a way to curtail the instances of predation. As late as the end of 2006, says MySpace, there was no technology developed to help them do this.

In response, Nigam and MySpace developed Sentinel SAFE, implemented this month, which uses a range of informational factors collected from state sex offender registries and from profiles, which are deleted as soon as they are identified. That information is then forwarded to the authorities.

 “We have zero tolerance for sexual predators on MySpace," said Nigam, "and took the initiative to create this first of its kind tool ourselves because nothing previously existed.

“We will continue to promote legislation requiring sex offenders to register their email addresses so they can be kept off social networking sites in the first place and urge other social networking sites to join our lead and implement technologies designed to keep predators away from younger users.”