controversial iphone apps – Gadget Teaser https://www.gadgetteaser.com Tracking the gadget and tech revolution Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:38:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.8 Selling Criminal Data For Profit? There’s An App For That https://www.gadgetteaser.com/2009/07/26/selling-criminal-data-for-profit-theres-an-app-for-that/ Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:38:28 +0000 https://www.gadgetteaser.com/?p=1623 There’s a new app on the Top Paid list this week, one that raises some pretty serious ethical questions. The app is called Offender Locator, and allows iPhone users to access the registered sex offender database from all 50 states, displaying the offenders’ locations, pictures, and all sorts of other personal data. This data is […]

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]]> Offender Locator app.There’s a new app on the Top Paid list this week, one that raises some pretty serious ethical questions. The app is called Offender Locator, and allows iPhone users to access the registered sex offender database from all 50 states, displaying the offenders’ locations, pictures, and all sorts of other personal data.

This data is all publicly available. In fact, it’s required nationwide to be freely accessible. That’s where the problems begin. The app is in the Top Paid category because it costs $.99. Not a whopping amount to pay for a little peace of mind, particularly if you’re a parent. But what of selling criminal data for profit?

That’s illegal in several states. Certainly the developer could argue that they’re being paid for a means to access that data, but even an uncreative wordsmith could punch holes in that defense. I’d expect a complete shitstorm around this one. The only question left – double butter or kettle corn?

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