Growing Pains of Too Much Info on the Net
The Washington Post has an interesting story about a Website that is selling police records to the general public. The site, rapsheets.com, can delve into the background of your babysitter, neighbor, co-worker, teacher, arch-enemy or anyone else for $5.95 per search.

Sure, this stuff is supposed to be public information, and I'm all for public information, but there are some times it creates unintended problems. There was a time when everyone's DMV information was available to anyone - then there was the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer, whose stalker located her home address thanks to the DMV records. This past December, another Website was persuaded by public pressure to stop selling birth certificates online.

There are problems with making police reports widely available. As the Washington Post points out, the reports do not always contain accurate information. The story doesn't mention this next point, but it occurs to me that the reports would also include information that the police and reporters now usually choose to leave out of general circulation - such as the identity of the victims of sexual assault.

And one other thought, I would assume that the cops themselves aren't going to be too keen on this. I've talked to a number of cops as a reporter and I can't tell you how many arguments I've gotten into trying to get a physical copy of a police report.

I would expect there are more quandaries to come. We love the access of the information highway, but when it comes to our own private lives hanging out, I suspect most people wouldn't want their own vitals hanging out.
» MORE GENEALOGY VS. PRIVACY
» WEB SITE REMOVES BIRTH RECORDS
» BORN IN CALIF? THEY'VE GOT YOUR NUMBERS
- posted by Amy @ 5/23/2002 08:58:00 AM