Foreign Archives - Florida Action Committee (FAC)

Estonia Says “Not So Fast” to Private Sex Offender Registries

FAC-3 — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:00:56 +0000

Have you googled your name recently? You might be shocked by what you find. In addition to the FDLE website, you’ll find dozens of “registries” listing your sex offender status. Some are operated by local police, some by news stations, some by private entities seeking to profit, and many by extortionists who list the embarrassing information and then charge you a fee to have it delisted.

Contrast this with Estonia, a country that recognizes the harm and potential danger of blasting this information all over the internet.

Earlier this year, an Estonian influencer launched a website that compiled information about people convicted of sex offenses and other crimes. While the information was reportedly gathered from public sources, the country’s Data Protection Inspectorate quickly stepped in and opened an investigation into the site. Estonia’s Justice Minister also criticized the project, emphasizing that criminal record information should be handled through regulated government systems rather than private databases. Authorities expressed concerns about privacy rights, transparency, data processing, potential errors, misuse of information, and the irreversible harm that can result when sensitive criminal history information is republished and amplified online.

In the United States, not only do states maintain public registries, but countless third parties scrape that information, repackage it, monetize it, and spread it across the internet. Real estate websites, neighborhood apps, local media outlets, and countless anonymous websites aggregate registry information. Once the data is copied, it can persist indefinitely, even when the original information changes, a person dies, is removed from the registry, or a conviction is overturned.

Estonia’s response reflects a fundamentally different philosophy. While the country maintains a government criminal records database, it also recognizes privacy as a legitimate concern and treats the dissemination of this information as something that requires oversight and justification. The Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate exists specifically to safeguard individuals’ rights regarding personal information and to ensure that data is not processed or distributed in ways that violate privacy protections and put people and their families at risk of vigilantism, violence and, as we’ve unfortunately seen here recently, death.

Private registries often contain outdated information, lack meaningful mechanisms for correction, create opportunities for harassment and vigilantism, and can expose not only registrants but also their spouses, children, employers, and neighbors to unwanted attention. Even victims’ advocates in Estonia expressed concern that unofficial databases could cause further harm.

Here in Florida, FAC has long advocated that FDLE should at minimum de-index the registry from search engines and implement safeguards to prevent the indiscriminate harvesting of registry data. People actively looking for information can find it, but it doesn’t need to be broadcast for those who are not searching your name or address for other reasons. Instead, the opposite has occurred. Registry information is now copied, archived, and redistributed by countless third parties with little or no accountability. Estonia — hardly a country known for being soft on crime — recognizes that publishing and republishing sensitive personal information across the internet creates risks that extend far beyond any claimed public safety benefit. Meanwhile, in the United States, an entire cottage industry has emerged around collecting, selling, and exploiting registry information. When a foreign country’s data protection authorities see a privately operated sex offender website and immediately ask whether it violates privacy rights, perhaps it’s time the US asks the same question?

SOURCE

The post Estonia Says “Not So Fast” to Private Sex Offender Registries appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

First the Registry, Then the Housing Crisis: The UK Repeats America’s Mistakes

FAC-3 — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:39:05 +0000

A recent report out of Scotland shows that the United Kingdom is beginning to face a reality that the United States has been struggling with for decades: once governments expand registries and surveillance systems for people convicted of sex offenses, the number of individuals under those systems steadily grows—and communities must eventually confront the question of where those people are supposed to live.

According to a report in Fife Today, the number of registered sex offenders living in the Scottish region of Fife has increased by 45 percent over the past five years. As the numbers increase, authorities are being forced to grapple with the same practical issue American communities have faced for years: housing.

For years, American policymakers expanded registry laws and residency restrictions without addressing the obvious question: if someone is banned from living near schools, parks, or other common locations, where exactly are they supposed to live? Now, as registry systems expand internationally, the same pressures are beginning to appear elsewhere.

The lesson here is not complicated. Policies built primarily around fear and exclusion eventually collide with reality. People released from prison still exist in society, and communities must either plan for safe reintegration—or deal with the chaos that results when there is nowhere for them to go.

The United States is learning that lesson the hard way. Unfortunately, it appears the United Kingdom may now be starting down the same path.

The post First the Registry, Then the Housing Crisis: The UK Repeats America’s Mistakes appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

When Evidence Matters: Canada’s Insight on Lifetime Registration

FAC-3 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:10:10 +0000

In a recent decision examining Canada’s sex offender registry framework, an Ontario judge did something remarkably simple — he asked for proof. Specifically, he looked for concrete examples showing that the registry had actually helped police solve time-sensitive crimes in the 25 years since its creation. And what did he find? Nothing.

“No example was provided of the registry assisting the police during an ongoing crime — such as a child abduction,” he wrote.

That statement is powerful not because it is dramatic, but because it is measured. In a quarter century of operation in Ontario — including in cities like Hamilton — not a single specific case was identified where the registry made a demonstrable difference during an active emergency.

The judge went further, concluding that he was not persuaded that lifetime reporting requirements meaningfully assist police in urgent investigations. Pause and consider that. For decades, lawmakers across North America have justified ever-expanding reporting requirements and lifetime registration on the basis of public safety — particularly the argument that these databases are critical tools in the frantic early hours of a child abduction or other emergency. Yet when asked to point to real-world examples, none were provided.This is not an emotional argument. It is an evidentiary one.

If lifetime reporting requirements truly enhance time-sensitive investigations, one would expect clear, documented cases demonstrating that benefit. Instead, the court was presented with assumptions — not proof. That distinction matters. Policy built on fear and hypothetical scenarios is easy to pass. Policy built on measurable outcomes is harder — but far more honest.

The insight coming out of Canada should resonate well beyond Ontario. It challenges lawmakers everywhere to answer a straightforward question: If a registry imposes lifelong restrictions and reporting burdens, where is the empirical evidence that it meaningfully improves public safety in the way it is claimed to? When courts begin demanding proof instead of rhetoric, the conversation changes.

And perhaps that is exactly what is needed.

SOURCE

The post When Evidence Matters: Canada’s Insight on Lifetime Registration appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

UK: Lawmaker wants registrants to disclose partner’s pregnancy.

FAC-3 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 12:04:02 +0000

A tragic case in the UK has prompted a proposal that would require registered sex offenders to notify police if they or their partner become pregnant — with failure to do so potentially resulting in prison. While no one disputes the heartbreaking nature of the underlying case*, criminalizing the failure to report a pregnancy represents a dramatic and troubling expansion of state oversight into deeply private family matters.

This goes far beyond traditional address or employment reporting requirements and effectively makes a partner’s pregnancy a police-monitored event. Pregnancy is not a crime, nor is it inherently indicative of risk. Turning it into a reportable condition under threat of incarceration blurs the line between legitimate safeguarding and intrusive control. Policies driven by extreme cases often produce sweeping rules that erode privacy, bodily autonomy, and family integrity without clear evidence that they improve public safety.

The Marten/Gordon case involved extreme concealment of a birth and horrific neglect.

SOURCE

The post UK: Lawmaker wants registrants to disclose partner’s pregnancy. appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

UK: Inmate’s suicide highlights indifference by guards when it comes to sex offenders

FAC-3 — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:50:32 +0000

The article details the death of a 64-year-old registered sex offender who killed himself in September 2024 after sustained bullying and violence at HMP Fosse Way. A coroner concluded that the man was “primarily let down by the custodial system,” highlighting how prison staff repeatedly failed to protect him despite clear warnings and documented risks.

At the time, the prison operated on an “offence-neutral” model, housing sex offenders alongside the general population. Although staff were aware that sex offenders were being targeted, intimidated, and assaulted, meaningful protective measures were not taken. The man was moved six times in response to abuse, yet the harassment continued. Incidents he reported were often inadequately investigated, sometimes dismissed due to a lack of CCTV evidence. Notably, a serious assault in which boiling water was thrown over him was not referred to police until months later—after he himself wrote to them.

The coroner found that the man repeatedly told prison and healthcare staff he felt unsafe and could not cope, and requested a transfer, but his pleas went unheeded. Evidence presented at the inquest showed that many sex offender prisoners were effectively confined to their cells out of fear, while staff struggled—or failed—to control hostility from other inmates. Only after his death were hundreds of sex offenders moved to a segregated wing.

The report warns that unless the Ministry of Justice changes its approach, further deaths are likely. The case illustrates how institutional inaction and a tolerance of ongoing abuse can create lethal conditions for vulnerable prisoners, even when risks are well known to authorities.

SOURCE

The post UK: Inmate’s suicide highlights indifference by guards when it comes to sex offenders appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

UK: One in five arrested using facial recognition cameras are registered sex offenders

FAC-3 — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:37:05 +0000

Greater Manchester Police say the use of live facial recognition (LFR) cameras has led to dozens of arrests in just weeks, including a significant number of registered sex offenders, with one in five arrests involving people on the sex offender register since the technology was deployed 23 times from October 2025.

Mounted on police vans, the cameras scan faces in public spaces and instantly compare biometric “faceprints” against watchlists of wanted individuals, alerting officers to potential matches. GMP has used the technology in the city centre, at Manchester Airport, and for the first time at a football match outside Old Trafford, contributing to 40 arrests so far, 30 of which have resulted in charges. The Home Office has backed the expansion of LFR nationwide, with the Home Secretary announcing plans to increase the number of camera vans from 10 to 50 across England and Wales, arguing the technology helps combat crime and restore public confidence. However, the rollout has drawn criticism from privacy and civil-liberties campaigners, who argue that scanning the faces of large numbers of people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing raises serious concerns about mass surveillance, proportionality, and the erosion of the right to privacy, particularly given the limited transparency and legal safeguards governing the technology’s use.

SOURCE

The post UK: One in five arrested using facial recognition cameras are registered sex offenders appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Australia: Man arrested for misusing new public sex offender registry

FAC-3 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:18:35 +0000

A Queensland man, Brian Allan Smith, has been charged under the new Daniel’s Law for allegedly publishing identifying details from the state’s newly launched public child sex offender register without police authorization. The alleged offense occurring was committed just after the register went live.

Daniel’s Law was introduced to give Queenslanders access to limited information about serious child sex offenders while including strict safeguards to prevent misuse, and carries significant penalties. Unauthorized publication or distribution of registry information can get up to three years’ imprisonment, and conduct that intimidates, harasses, or incites others to target registered individuals can result in up to ten years’ imprisonment. These provisions reflect a deliberate effort by Queensland legislators to balance greater transparency in child protection with robust deterrence against vigilantism or harassment of offenders.

By contrast, in the United States sex offender registries established under federal and state law (often referred to as Megan’s Law), detailed information about convicted sex offenders is generally made publicly accessible online with fewer explicit criminal penalties specifically tied to how that information is used. While individual states may have laws against harassment or violence, the public nature of U.S. registries means community members can freely search and share lists of names, addresses, and other identifying data, and this widespread accessibility has been linked to instances of harassment, vigilantism, and even violent attacks on persons identified in registries.

SOURCE

The post Australia: Man arrested for misusing new public sex offender registry appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has launched a national, publicly accessible High-Risk Child Sex Offender Database

FAC-3 — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 13:14:08 +0000

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has launched a national, publicly accessible High-Risk Child Sex Offender Database, the first of its kind in Canada, to centralize information on individuals who have been convicted of sexual offenses against children and are assessed as posing a high risk of committing further sexual crimes.

This database, created under the High Risk Child Sex Offender Database Act, includes only information that has already been made public by police or other authorities and is intended to help inform and protect communities as well as support law enforcement in investigating and preventing child sexual offenses. Provincial, territorial and municipal authorities determine who is considered high risk and recommend offenders for inclusion, and the RCMP administers and regularly reviews the information to ensure accuracy.

The database is separate from the National Sex Offender Registry, which remains accessible only to law enforcement.

SOURCE

The post Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has launched a national, publicly accessible High-Risk Child Sex Offender Database appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Scottish National Party seeks Bill to strip “friends of sex offenders” of their titles

FAC-3 — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:08:01 +0000

The Scottish National Party is pushing a “Removal of Peerages Bill” that would strip people who are friends of people who were registered sex offenders of their noble title. In the UK, nobility is recognized with a title such as Duke, Earl, or Baron. After it was discovered that some people in British nobility remained friends with Jeffrey Epstein even after his conviction for solicitation of prostitution from a minor, the Party is trying to pass a bill that would punish people with removal of their titles.

Guilt by Association Has No Place in a Free Society! This bill should alarm anyone who values basic fairness and the rule of law. Punishing people for who they associate with, rather than for what they themselves have done, is a dangerous step backward for a democratic society.

We do not, and should not, punish parents for the crimes of their children, spouses for the crimes of their partners, or friends for the crimes of their friends. Responsibility in a free society is personal, not transferable. Friendships are often complex, longstanding, and rooted in history that predates any wrongdoing. If someone has been a lifelong friend to another person, are they expected to erase decades of shared history because that person committed a crime? And what if that friend has served their sentence, expressed remorse, and worked to rebuild their life? Are we now to demand that everyone cut them off forever?

We say we believe in rehabilitation. We say we believe people can change. But those words ring hollow if we create a culture where anyone who supports, mentors, or simply remains in contact with a rehabilitated person is themselves punished. How is someone supposed to reintegrate into society if the message is that no one is allowed to stand by them without risking their own livelihood, reputation, or status?

Support is not endorsement. Standing by a person does not mean excusing their actions. It can mean believing in accountability, growth, and redemption. In fact, strong social support is one of the most important factors in reducing re offending and helping people lead law-abiding lives. Policies that encourage total social isolation do not make society safer.

There is also a troubling slippery slope. What about friendships with political dissidents? A liberal democrat who was friends with a MAGA Republican? Once the state claims the power to punish citizens based on their associations, the line becomes alarmingly easy to move.

We can — and should — condemn crimes. We can demand accountability. We can insist on transparency and ethical conduct from those in public life. But we should not abandon the foundational idea that people are responsible for themselves, not for the sins of others. A system that demands permanent shunning is not a system of justice — it is a system of exile. And exile, by association, has no place in a free and fair society.

SOURCE

The post Scottish National Party seeks Bill to strip “friends of sex offenders” of their titles appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Vigilante Cop called “hero” after assaulting and robbing registrant.

FAC-3 — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 13:17:12 +0000

A former police officer in New South Wales has been sentenced following the aggravated break-and-enter and robbery of around A$100,000 from the home of a 78-year-old man who he previously supervised for a child sex offense. Sickeningly, the public applauded his action and called him a hero on social media for targeting sex offenders.

The officer used his knowledge from a 2020 investigation into the man to plan the crime. On October 3, 2024 the officer returned, breaking into the victim’s home, tied him up, threatened further harm if he didn’t tell him where the safe key was, and then stole the cash. At his sentencing, the presiding judge condemned the offender’s abuse of his professional role: “Use of private information gathered by the process of search warrants for anything other than proper purposes connected to the administration of justice is entirely unacceptable and must be deplored.”

The case raises troubling questions about vigilantism, the misuse of police power, and the public narrative around “heroes” who target sex-offenders. Law enforcement should be carried out under the rule of law — not personal vendettas — even when the victim is someone society dislikes. This is why public comments made by many Florida Sheriffs are so dangerous and should be condemned.

SOURCE

The post Vigilante Cop called “hero” after assaulting and robbing registrant. appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).