Free North Carolina App Allows User to Find Location of Sex Offenders

North Carolina residents will soon have the ability to track the location of a registered sex offender on their iPhone, thanks to a new app that is being unveiled by the state’s attorney general. The tracking application searches within one, three and five miles of your current location.

The app will be launched this week. Currently, the app is only available for iPhone users, but they are working on an Android version of the app. This particular sex offender search app is in addition to the availability of the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry online. The Registry is not a live view of where the offender is at any given point. Rather it lists the address of the offender.

There are concerns about the app and the infringement of the offender’s rights. Many advocates argue that the app exceeds the bounds of tracking, particularly when anyone is able to find the current location of the offender. In the past, this information was only available if the court ordered mandatory tracking or ankle bracelet home arrest.

On the other hand, parents said that the app is helpful to understand the proximity of potentially dangerous offenders.

Source: WSOC TV “Free app from NC government can locate sex offenders,” 2/3/2012