Sex offender tracking site closed
Thursday, July 21, 2005 - 12:00 AM
Michael Rigert DAILY HERALD
After making its Internet debut a week ago, a Web site that tracks convicted sex offenders in Utah was shut down after questions were raised about the accuracy of addresses provided by the Utah Department of Corrections.
As many as one in five addresses in the state sex offender database are incorrect, according to a corrections department spokesman.
Created by an Orem firm, Orbizon Inc., the Web site mapsexoffenders.com has used point-and-click map technology to plot the residences of registered sex offenders in local communities. Information for plotting map locations is public under federal law and is provided by the Utah Department of Corrections. The information is available at the state's official Web site.
The accuracy question arose in a meeting on Monday when state officials reportedly told the mapping company that many sex offender addresses were out of date. Company and state officials differ on exactly what was said, but they agree on one thing -- the database is not entirely accurate.
Mark Olsen, account manager for Orbizon, said Web designers were told during the meeting that as many as two-thirds of the addresses in the state database might be inaccurate. As a result, the company decided to take the site down indefinitely until the problem is resolved, he said.
"The response to our site has been wonderful. We've had tens of thousands of hits in the week we were up," Olsen said. "Everyone wants it, but we have to make sure it's accurate information."
Jack Ford, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said no one told the company that two-thirds of the offender addresses were inaccurate. "We did not say that. That's not true," he said. "What's the point of having a Web site that two-thirds of the addresses are inaccurate?"
Though Ford said the system is not perfect (offenders are supposed to report new addresses to the department, but some don't) he said there's no way so much information is outdated.
"There's no question there's some on there who have moved since they last came in and registered ... and we're not sure where they've moved to," Ford said. He estimated the error rate at 10 to 20 percent.
"We're not against them. In fact I think having maps works great," Ford said. "We're looking into having that ourselves."
According to the federal version of Megan's Law, legislation signed by President Clinton in 1996, each state is required to release the relevant information on convicted sex offenders to the public to protect people from violent sexual predators. Paroled offenders must register with local authorities and keep the state updated with their current addresses at all times.
Olsen said he has since spoken with Ford about the company's take on the accuracy question. "Our agreement is that some of it is inaccurate information, but we're not going to worry about numbers," Olsen said. "We understood it to be a large number and we've turned off the Web site."
A message on the home page of mapsexoffenders.com explaining to readers why the site is down softened the message about inaccuracies. Instead of the two-thirds figure posted earlier this week, it now refers simply to "many inaccuracies" in the state's data.
"We're going to meet with the state and work together ... in a way that the information is accurate and the public finds useful," Olsen said.
What degree of inaccuracy will Olsen tolerate before mapsexoffenders.com will be up and running again? "There's not a certain percentage," Olsen said. "We're looking to feel comfortable using this information. If the state of Utah says it's accurate, then we'll publish it, as long as it's OK with them."
He said when the Web team has talked to other states about the precision of their databases, the reply is typically "very accurate" or "we're very comfortable."
"We feel, with working with the state, we'll be able to do what we want and provide this information to the public in a way (UDC) feels is acceptable," he said.
Ford said the state law specifically prohibits republication by private parties. Whether this holds up to scrutiny, however, remains to be seen. The matter has been referred to the Utah attorney general's office, he said.
"We think the information should be public and out there, but we have to follow the law," Ford said.
Olsen said with the popularity of the site in just the seven days it was up, he doesn't believe there are any problems that can't be resolved.
"I don't think the state is against it," he said.
Because of the questions raised about Utah's sex offender database, Orbizon has postponed plans to expand the Web site to include sex offender data from other states.
Michael Rigert DAILY HERALD
After making its Internet debut a week ago, a Web site that tracks convicted sex offenders in Utah was shut down after questions were raised about the accuracy of addresses provided by the Utah Department of Corrections.
As many as one in five addresses in the state sex offender database are incorrect, according to a corrections department spokesman.
Created by an Orem firm, Orbizon Inc., the Web site mapsexoffenders.com has used point-and-click map technology to plot the residences of registered sex offenders in local communities. Information for plotting map locations is public under federal law and is provided by the Utah Department of Corrections. The information is available at the state's official Web site.
The accuracy question arose in a meeting on Monday when state officials reportedly told the mapping company that many sex offender addresses were out of date. Company and state officials differ on exactly what was said, but they agree on one thing -- the database is not entirely accurate.
Mark Olsen, account manager for Orbizon, said Web designers were told during the meeting that as many as two-thirds of the addresses in the state database might be inaccurate. As a result, the company decided to take the site down indefinitely until the problem is resolved, he said.
"The response to our site has been wonderful. We've had tens of thousands of hits in the week we were up," Olsen said. "Everyone wants it, but we have to make sure it's accurate information."
Jack Ford, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said no one told the company that two-thirds of the offender addresses were inaccurate. "We did not say that. That's not true," he said. "What's the point of having a Web site that two-thirds of the addresses are inaccurate?"
Though Ford said the system is not perfect (offenders are supposed to report new addresses to the department, but some don't) he said there's no way so much information is outdated.
"There's no question there's some on there who have moved since they last came in and registered ... and we're not sure where they've moved to," Ford said. He estimated the error rate at 10 to 20 percent.
"We're not against them. In fact I think having maps works great," Ford said. "We're looking into having that ourselves."
According to the federal version of Megan's Law, legislation signed by President Clinton in 1996, each state is required to release the relevant information on convicted sex offenders to the public to protect people from violent sexual predators. Paroled offenders must register with local authorities and keep the state updated with their current addresses at all times.
Olsen said he has since spoken with Ford about the company's take on the accuracy question. "Our agreement is that some of it is inaccurate information, but we're not going to worry about numbers," Olsen said. "We understood it to be a large number and we've turned off the Web site."
A message on the home page of mapsexoffenders.com explaining to readers why the site is down softened the message about inaccuracies. Instead of the two-thirds figure posted earlier this week, it now refers simply to "many inaccuracies" in the state's data.
"We're going to meet with the state and work together ... in a way that the information is accurate and the public finds useful," Olsen said.
What degree of inaccuracy will Olsen tolerate before mapsexoffenders.com will be up and running again? "There's not a certain percentage," Olsen said. "We're looking to feel comfortable using this information. If the state of Utah says it's accurate, then we'll publish it, as long as it's OK with them."
He said when the Web team has talked to other states about the precision of their databases, the reply is typically "very accurate" or "we're very comfortable."
"We feel, with working with the state, we'll be able to do what we want and provide this information to the public in a way (UDC) feels is acceptable," he said.
Ford said the state law specifically prohibits republication by private parties. Whether this holds up to scrutiny, however, remains to be seen. The matter has been referred to the Utah attorney general's office, he said.
"We think the information should be public and out there, but we have to follow the law," Ford said.
Olsen said with the popularity of the site in just the seven days it was up, he doesn't believe there are any problems that can't be resolved.
"I don't think the state is against it," he said.
Because of the questions raised about Utah's sex offender database, Orbizon has postponed plans to expand the Web site to include sex offender data from other states.
posted by Richy at 10:34 AM
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