ThePittsburghChannel.com – A new string of smart phone apps is available, putting criminal records and a fairly comprehensive background check at users’ fingertips. Channel 4 Action News reporter Ari Hait went online to the iTunes app store and downloaded four apps – Sex Offender Locator, Date Check, Crime Spotter and FBI 10 Most Wanted – then took a phone to the streets to test them.
He started with the Sex Offender Locator and tested it at the corner of Penn Avenue and East Liberty Boulevard, near Schenley High School and an early childhood center. In a matter of seconds, Hait was able to see on his phone the names of all registered sex offenders – more than 100 in all – who live within a two-mile radius of his current location.
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Watch Ari’s Report
A cross-check with the information on the Pennsylvania Megan’s Law website showed that the app information was accurate. ”It’s kind of frightening, but it’s good to be able to know that kind of information,” said Bill Schmitt, a local grandfather.
“I think that’s a great, great, great app to put on your phone, especially if you have small children,” said Crystal Dixon, of Wilkinsburg. Next, Hait went to a street on the University of Pittsburgh campus and tested Date Check. It’s a simple background check that advertises itself as a way to know the person you’re dating before you hook up.
Type in a phone number, a name or an e-mail address, and Date Check will check that person out. There’s also a so-called “sleaze detector” to check for criminal history. ”If I went out to dinner with somebody that I didn’t know that well, then yeah, I would definitely use it,” Pitt senior Tereza Svozilova said.
The third app, Crime Spotter, bills itself as a way to see which crimes have been reported in a given area. But Crime Spotter is not linked to law enforcement. It relies on the public for honest reports. Anybody can enter anything they want, so there’s no way to know if what you’re reading is true.
That isn’t a problem with the fourth app, which comes directly from the FBI. Essentially, what you see on their office wall or in the Post Office can now be seen on your phone. Special Agent Rob Ambrosini said the FBI wanted to get information out to the public immediately, so the bureau developed an app that shows details and photos of its most-wanted fugitives in different categories.
“Many times, we have the criminals who are trying to exploit technology, take advantage of technology,” Ambrosini said. “Now, we’re just trying to use it for a good purpose, and we find it very useful.”
I have been following smart phone background check applications for some time, and the most notorious one came from Intelius last year, with the launch of their Date Check service. Don’t forget most apps still only pull public records from an instant public database, so will in reality only give you reliable sex offender records along with a few criminal records.
However, as consumer background checks like USSearch and Intelius keep improving their services, these smart phone apps will become increasingly useful for obtaining very accurate phone and address histories along with various civil and criminal court records. Along with that is the FBI’s tentative toe-in-the-water with their FBI 10 Most Wanted app.
The long and short is that the pace with which all manner of records are being made public is astounding and somewhat worrisome at the same time. True, you’ll be able to found out whether you’re date is a criminal on the fly, but keep in mind that the potential for identity theft is growing at the same time.
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