Now you see it, now you don't.
"Offender Locater"was jerked off the shelf by Apple just a few days after making the IPhone application available.
Although the reason for booting the product is not clear, apparently in Califiornia, a profit cannot be made off the sale of criminal information.
For the folks over at PCWorld are creeped out that "...some company is attempting to profit off of sexual predators. This information is free and access should remain that way."
As for the controversial aspects of Offender Locator, some blogs are suggesting the app itself is unnecessary and does nothing but fuel paranoia. I don't see it that way.
There's a sexual offender registry for a reason, and while it sometimes goes overboard (arrest for public urination often requires registering), the information is necessary and made available for comfort and security reasons.
Per ABC News (8/7/09), "Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABCNews.com. But in a statement released today released by ThinAir Wireless said its paid application "was removed due to unsubstantiated, inaccurate legal concerns."
The 99 cent application uses the iPhone's GPS to scout the locations of registered sex offenders living in a designated area.
ThinAir is considering a lawsuit.
(...)
Recalling that people who urinate in public, get caught getting it on with their lovers in bathrooms, and take "naked pumpkin runs" sometimes get slapped with a sex offender charge, we had to wonder how many of these red pins represented actual rapists and child molesters.
To answer this, all we had to do was look at the offender's detailed profile. Here we found intimate details about each offender including a list of all their convictions and their full name, D.O.B., race, sex, height, weight, address, and a full mugshot. Some listings however did not include a list of convictions - are these the public urinators?
So what makes this different then pulling the info from registered offender databases found on your computer? The app uses GPS so that one can find out how many predators are in any given area, at any given time. Bored at a barbecue? Look up the local sex offenders! Staying the night at a friend's place? Look up convicts in her apartment building. The information is literally at one's fingertips.
Honestly though, who needs to know this stuff? It'll just lead to worry and paranoia.
8/4/2009
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Update
Offender Locator back in App Store
Apple Insider, 8/10/2009
"After it was removed last week for legal reasons, the iPhone application Offender Locator has returned to the App Store with appropriate modifications to make it acceptable. The new version of the software does not include California sex offender data, as it is illegal in the state for anyone to profit from the distribution of such publicly available information."
