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Germany Edges Toward Chinese Style Rating Of Citizens China is experimenting with a dystopian “social credit system” which grades every citizen based on their behavior. The head of an expert panel argues that Germany is sleepwalking in the same direction.

What are you worth? Today your answer might be based on what you earn, the price of your belongings or how much your family loves you. But in the near future, you may well be valued in a different way altogether – and your online behavior most certainly will be.

“We live in a world where judgment is being replaced by numbers – by scores that calculate the value of a human being, with the help of algorithms,” says Gerd Gigerenzer, director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Mr. Gigerenzer also heads a council of experts on consumer affairs that advises the German Ministry of Justice. The panel is currently working on a report on this topic.

Being assessed by algorithms is advancing in China, where an experiment in what is being called a “social credit system” is underway, the professor of psychology and behavioral sciences specialist says.

The Chinese system, which uses a combination of mass

surveillance and big data to score citizens, is currently voluntary but it will be mandatory by 2020. At that stage, every citizen and company will be ranked whether they like it or not.

CO, Schufa is a private company that assesses the creditworthiness of about three-quarters of all Germans and over 5 million companies in the country.

Anyone wanting to rent a house or loan money is re“If you don’t adhere to quired to produce their social conventions, if you Schufa rating in Germany – search for the wrong web- or their FICO score in the site, if you buy too many US. Additionally, factors video games, if you cross like “geo-scoring” can also the road on a red light or lower your overall grade if even if you have friends you happen to live in a lowwith a low score, then your rent neighborhood, or even own score will fall,” Mr. if a lot of your neighbors Gigerenzer told Hanhave bad credit ratings. delsblatt’s sister publication, Der Tagesspiegel.

In other areas, German health insurers will offer In the various experiyou lower premiums if you mental versions of the sys- don’t get sick as much. tem – rolled out by local They may offer you even governments and selected better premiums if you companies – millions of share data from your fitness citizens with poor ratings -tracking device to show are already labeled as “not you’re doing your part to qualified” to book flights or stay healthy. Anyone using high-speed train tickets, let websites like Amazon, alone get a loan from the eBay or Airbnb is asked to bank. The potential impli- rate others and is rated cations could be worse still. themselves. Those who try “Should your score fall too to avoid being rated are much, your children won’t looked at askance. An inbe able to go to the better creasing number of conschools and many other sumers will be denied cerlimitations will apply,” the tain services or, say, mortexpert warns. A system like gages if they don’t present that ensures self-censorship some kind of rating. even within families, he says, predicting that the “We are in a crucial phase plan is bound to be success- in which we need to have a ful. discussion about our valIt sounds like some drastic, Orwellian version of the future. But as Mr. Gigerenzer notes, we in western countries are not as far from such a system as we might like to think. In Germany, he points out, it starts out with the universal credit rating system known as a Schufa. Very much like its US counterpart FI-

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ues,” Mr. Gigerenzer argues. “Do we want to go on like this? Should we keep scoring people in areas like finance, health, criminality, rental housing, mail-order businesses and so on? And if you answered yes to that, then here is the next question: Should we allow all of the data gathered to be brought together, so we can come up with a total score for every citizen?”

the global giant, is a staunch advocate of “full transparency.”

“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place,” Mr. Schmidt said.

“I see a remarkable similarity between Mr. Schmidt and the Chinese government,” Mr. Gigerenzer In China, the answer is a notes, adding that Baidu, resounding yes, and yes. the Chinese equivalent of Beijing is selling the idea Google, is already working of a social credit system as with Beijing’s fledgling a way to increase trust and social credit system.. combat crime and corruption. If an institution or in- continues dividual has a good score, then you can have confidence in them, Chinese authorities trumpet.

And it works like a charm.

Citizens are welcoming the fact that the scoring system will help them tell if people around them are trustworthy or not, the behavioral scientist says. “And I believe that even in Germany there would be a certain group who would support the idea of ‘digitally transparent’ people.”

Mr. Gigerenzer points out that Eric Schmidt, a former executive chairman of Google, controversially talked about “the right to know” back in 2009. The entrepreneur, who recently turned technical adviser to

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Germany— Chinese, cont.,

tal technology, the social and psychological dimensions are being left out, he continues. “A huge blind Then again, even if you do spot has developed.” like the idea of a social credit system, Mr. Gigeren- When his expert panel has zer thinks that the technolo- finished their report on gy involved is not up to the “scoring consumers” it will job yet. Artificial intellibe presented to the justice gence might be doing very ministry. Mr. Gigerenzer well with games like chess, hopes the report will also or in other situations with arouse a lot more public well-defined parameters, he debate on the topic. says. “But the situation looks totally different when There is mounting critiwe are talking about real- cism in Germany of what world situations with many some view as a lack of uncertainties.” transparency in establishing Schufa scores. In 2014, the He provides two examFederal Court of Justice ples. First, the program, dismissed the lawsuit of a Google Flu Trends, which woman who wanted to launched with great fanfare know how the company in 2008 and which tried to had calculated her negative work out how prevalent, credit rating. and where, flu cases were by aggregating all the difBut two nonferent online searches governmental organizaGoogle users made for flu tions, AlgorithmWatch and symptoms. But after the the Open Knowledge Founsoftware virtually missed dation, launched the the climax of the flu season OpenSchufa initiative earliin 2013, the program was er this month. Supported by quietly shelved. data journalists, they have set out to crack the Schufa Secondly, Mr. Gigerenzer algorithm. They rely mainmentions COMPAS, a re- ly on financial information cidivism-prediction algodonated by the public. rithm used in various US states. The tool was devel“If we don’t do anything, oped to help judges with then one day a corporation sentencing by looking at or a government institution defendants’ criminal histo- will pull all the information ries and then predicting from different data banks what likelihood there was together and come up with of them reoffending. But a social credit score,” Mr. further research found that Gigerenzer warns. “And at the risk-assessment algothe end, we will be in the rithm was wrong in over a same state as the Chinese. third of the cases, as well as At the moment we are inracially biased. In recent vesting billions in digital experiments, ordinary peo- technologies,” he continple with no experience in ues. “When we should be the field did a better job of investing just as much in telling offenders’ fortunes digital education so that than the algorithm could. humans are aware what algorithms really can, and “It would be tragic if cannot, do. We cannot just somebody’s life was destand by as they are used to stroyed just because others change our minds and our put blind faith in a comsocieties.” mercial algorithm,” Mr. Gigerenzer says.

So what can be done about this process, and particularly given that it is already well underway?

One Woman Denounced For Abortion Every Day in Mexico: Report

country, except in cases of rape.

The voluntary interruption of pregnancy up to 12 weeks is only allowed in In the last ten years, Mexi- Mexico City. The process co has registered 4,246 cas- is banned in the rest of the es of abortion denouncecountry, except in cases of ment, meaning that on av- rape. erage one woman (1.16) is reported to the police every Not All UK day for seeking the process, according to a new report. Workers Need A Titled ''Maternity and Punishment' and presented at the National Autonomous University of Mexico by the Information Group on Decided Reproduction (GIRE), the report says 136 people are currently imprisoned in Mexico in connection with abortion.

The majority of reported denouncements – 894 – were registered in Mexico City, followed by the states of Baja California with 466; Veracruz with 416, and Nuevo Leon with 339.

Over the same 10-year period, 228 people were arrested, of which 83 are still in pretrial detention and 53 are serving formal sentences.

DBS Clearance

What isn't widely known is that many jobs in the health and medical profession in the UK iare exempted from a completed DBS search. While the search is still accessible, there is no need to apply for the certificate.

Access to medical records alone does not mean that non-clinical staff need to receive a DBS check.

Non-clinical staff who carry out chaperone duties may require a DBS check due to the nature of these duties and the level of paPerhaps though, as a mat- tient contact. ter of due diligence, a backNon-clinical staff who ground check should be supervise a baby or child conducted. For a certified whilst their parent or carer background checke other is having an appointment than the DBS, Straightline will require a DBS check.

International conducts UK If a practice decides not to searchesat all the Magiscarry out a DBS check for trates and Crown Courts. any non-clinical staff they Here is a breakdown of the need to provide a clear rationale for the decision. inclusions: This should, include an appropriate risk assessment.

Non-clinical staff

According to the report, the criminalization of abor- There is no general requiretion in Mexico follows "common" patterns: pregnant girls and women who approach a health center during an ongoing abortion are questioned and denounced by health staff, social workers, family members or acquaintances. The Public Ministry then interrogates them on site.

The report says part of the charges are based on selfincriminatory declarations obtained under pressure and in the context of a medial emergency, leading to a criminal process that can culminate in fines, community work, 'integral medical treatment' or even prison.

Some men are also included in the figures, It would have been an imaccused of helping portant topic for the recent women to abort or In Mexico City, abortion hurting women in orcoalition talks to form the next German government, is legal until the 12th week der to induce an aborMr. Gigerenzer explains. In of pregnancy. It is banned tion. the constant talk about digi- throughout the rest of the

ment for non-clinical staff (for example reception or administrative staff) to have a DBS check. This depends on their specific duties and responsibilities.

Practices may not be breaching regulations if certain non-clinical staff have not received DBS checks. The practice should consider this on a case-bycase basis. For example:

Davidson County Breaches Identities Online

have been identified that potentially have a social security number or a driver's license number. He said he doesn't believe the numMetro Nashville recently ber will be this high bepublicized confidential per- cause there are likely duplicates and outlier data such sonal information — inas false social security and cluding Social Security numbers on arrest records driver's license numbers.

— of an undisclosed numIn a news release issued ber of private citizens in a by the mayor's office, the public information breach city says it plans to notify by the city's government. those affected within 45 Davidson County Crimi- days that their confidential information was disclosed. nal Court Clerk Howard Gentry's office said Mon- A third party will review day that it is "taking action breached information to to review and remedy" the identify people who have been impacted. breach.

According to Byrd, the Metro Police Department on July 31 issued a reminder to officers that Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and other sensitive personal information that could place someone at enhanced risk The city is offering one of identity theft should not year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection be placed in an arrest warrant affidavit. service in response to the situation, Mayor David BriDavidson County General ley's administration anSessions Judge Melissa nounced.

Blackburn issued an order The website Scoop: Nash- on Aug. 7 that any arrest warrants including sensitive ville first exposed the breach on Aug. 1, reporting personal identifying inforthat it affected victims, as mation to be signed by a judicial commissioner. well as people who had Metro officials say some criminal affidavits attached to publicly available arrest warrants inappropriately included the Social Security numbers and other information of private residents.

the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

A deeper dive into the data shows that most infringements involve lapses that are not related to the use of the road, like touting, not wearing Public Service Vehicle (PSV) uniform and failure to renew driving permits. Public Prosecutions Secretary Dorcas Oduor says taking traffic offenders to court and criminalising minor crimes does not improve road safety.

“Is it better to arrest a mother caught for the first time not wearing a seat belt and to take her to remand for the whole day or is it preferable to give her an option to accept fault, have the traffic officer record the admission then direct her to where she should pay fine within a reasonable time?” she asks.

cent). Nakuru, Garissa and Mandera counties also recorded more traffic cases than other criminal suits combined during the six months under review.

ment and a fare table, violating speed limits, driving a vehicle without speed governor, operating vehicles with missing or unmaintained parts, carrying excess passengers, failing Case studies conducted in to buckle up, standing in a Makadara in Nairobi, PSV and being a pillion Legal and traffic experts Kangundo in Machakos passenger without a helmet. say urbanisation and a high and Naivasha in Nakuru These offences account for population growth, result- counties found that the three quarters of the regising in the rise in the num- most prevalent offences are tered cases. ber of vehicles and traffic touting, failing to wear cases, will overrun the PSV uniform and display More than a third of the courts if innovative resoluPSV badge, operating a ve5,040 traffic infringements never been arrested in addiThe city says it intends to tions are not adopted. hicle or motorcycle without registered in Makadara, tion to the accused. scrub confidential personal a driving licence and driv- Kangundo and Naivasha According to the study ing on a public road with- were related to touting and "It is regrettable this infor- identifying information that covered the second half from all affidavits before out an inspection sticker. licence issues. mation was made publicly of last year, 36,491 traffic being posted on the CrimiOther violations are failing available, and it absolutely crimes were registered in to keep records of employshould not have happened," nal Court Clerk's Office courts, of which 501 website, where those recGentry, re-elected to his involved fatal crashoffice this month, said in a ords are viewable. es. as well. statement. "We are looking into the scope of the The counties with breach, including the Metro Proposal To the largest share of agencies and individuals traffic offences regisinvolved, and will be rely- Decriminalize tered in courts signal ing on the services of a Traffic Offences just how worse the third-party vendor to help In Kenya Hopes situation could get if with the investigation. the status quo is To Cut Case maintained. The pro"Our preliminary review portion of traffic ofindicates that only a small Backlog fences in court varies portion of the total affidaThe high number of traffic widely by county, vits contained confidential cases is disrupting the crim- ranging from more identifying information." inal justice system yet there than two thirds of criminal cases in Naiis little evidence to show Judith Byrd, a spokeswoman Briley, said the city that sentences are making robi (71 percent), Narok (70 percent) roads safe. does not have an exact and Mombasa (64 number of people affected.

Traffic offences constitute percent) to less than But Criminal Court Chief more than a third — 36 per five per cent in West Deputy Clerk Julius Sloss cent — of criminal cases in Pokot (four per cent) and Nyamira and said around 5,400 affidavits courts, reveals a study by Nandi (three per

Traffic offences in Kenya, cont., Ms Oduor says selfregulation can be used to settle minor offences. "For example, matatu and bus saccos should be tasked with ensuring their members wear uniform and desist from touting," she says.

Issues of compliance could also be addressed by the relevant institutions, Ms Oduor adds. “If someone is found driving using a licence that expired a few days or weeks ago, he or she could be warned and barred from the road until they renews the permit.

When they go to renew the licence, they should pay a prescribed penalty,” she says.

If one is taken to court for a traffic offence in Kenya, they are likely to be convicted. The national average conviction rate stands at 93 per cent.

But Ms Oduor says this is because most people plead guilty. In a typical traffic offence case, the accused usually turns up to court with a summon, with no accompanying arresting officer or evidence of the crime. “Most Kenyans plead guilty just to get on with their lives. The punishment may never influence their behaviour since they may feel they were unfairly treated,” Ms Oduor says.

In more than three quarters of cases where the accused pleaded or were ODPP Senior Principal found guilty, according to Prosecution Counsel Gikui the study, they were fined Gichuhi supports alternabetween Sh1,000 and tive routes to trial.

Sh5,000. Six per cent of “Remanding people for mi- those convicted were fined nor offences along with less than Sh1,000. The least hardcore criminals may fine imposed was Sh250, lead some to crime,” she for being an excess passensays. ger.

Resolved administratively Kenya can learn from other countries on how to decongest courts and maintain road safety. In New York, minor traffic offences are resolved administratively.

In many cases, traffic offenders give police officers bribes that are larger than the penalties prescribed.

“People do this to avoid the hustle of going to court and because some of them do not realise that the penalties The US city passed a law are often less punitive than transferring the responsibil- the bribes,” Ms Gichuhi ity for settling moving traf- says. fic infractions from the criminal court to various Three quarters of those departments of the New convicted in Makadara, York State Department of Kangundo and Naivasha Motor Vehicles. pleaded guilty in the first court appearance while The department's Admin- more than a quarter — 27 istrative Adjudication Bu- percent — pleaded not reau handles minor offenc- guilty, leading to trials. es such as improper turning, tailgating and wrong In more than a third of lane changing. cases, imprisonment for one month was imposed for However, criminal courts not paying fines. The minitry serious traffic violations mum term passed was sevsuch as vehicular homicide, en days and the maximum driving while intoxicated, seven months. reckless driving and leaving the scene of an acciTraffic cases constituted dent. nearly half (47 percent) of the total cases registered in “Most Kenyans plead the three stations. guilty just to get on with their lives. The punishment Road traffic deaths inmay never influence their creased by six percent to behaviour since they may 1,859 between January 1 feel they were unfairly and August 13 2018 from treated,” Ms Oduor says.

1,760 over the same period

last year, according to the National Transport and Safety Authority.

to mean the accused pays the arresting officers on the spot. The offender should commit to pay to a desigChallenges faced in prose- nated organisation within a cuting traffic offences ingiven period, she says. clude the high number of cases, lack of evidence at In Botswana, for instance, the time of registering the police officers issue an adcharge, failure by police mission of guilt form to officers to enforce sumtraffic offenders. mons and warrants of arrest issued in court and present- The offenders are then ing traffic offenders with- given 14 days to pay up. If out witness statements and they fail to so, the case is exhibits, according to the committed to court. They study. can still approach the police to arrange payment after Other problems include the deadline. missing crime scene evidence during the presentaIn Denmark a traffic pention of the charge sheet to alty system called the Deprosecutors, bonded susmerit Point System (DPS) pects skipping court apassigns a demerit point on a pearances, lack of computer driver’s license for each printouts due to irregular traffic violation whereas a maintenance of speed guns deduction of three points in and breathalysers and lack three years leads to conditional suspension of a drivof previous records. ing license. A conditional “In many instances, peo- suspension implies that you must pass both theoretical ple who have been summoned to court do not show and practical driving tests up. When they do, no evi- within three – six months to dence is presented against keep your driving license. them,” Ms Oduor says.

The new smart driving “Take the example of one licenses being issued by NTSA could enable motorwho is arrested for drunk driving and remanded over- ists to pay traffic violation night. When he appears in court the next day without forensic or video proof, he can easily claim he were sober.”

She adds that many of the challenges can be overcome through consistency and digitisation of processes.

Inconsistency breeds disobedience. “If people are to be arrested for touting and not wearing PSV uniform, it should not be selective,” Ms Oduor says.

To decongest the court system, some countries have opted for spot fines. If the fine is not paid, the vehicle is impounded.

Ms Gichuhi says spot fines are a quick way to decongest the courts though the system could be prone to corruption.

Instant fines should not be misconstrued

fines at the point where they commit an offence.

Information that will be digitally gathered about drivers could be used to create a database of offenders. “Such a database could track repeat offenders so that they get more severe sentences. Now, repeat offenders keep getting off through bribery,” says the Secretary of Public Prosecutions.

In Australia, infringement notices, also known as expiation notices are issued to traffic offenders. These notices do not carry penalty of imprisonment and an offender is given two weeks to pay the fine. There is no court appearance and no conviction is recorded and payment of fees is not an admission of guilt or civil liability.

The offender could also choose not pay the fine and be prosecuted instead.

Oduor says ODPP is in the process of developing prosecution guidelines for all criminal cases, especially traffic offences.

Government Out To Get The Record Scrapers

services after receipt of the cease and desist letter and having one of its IP address blocked.

For tech lawyers, one of the hottest questions this year is: can companies use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)—an imprecise and outdated criminal anti-“hacking” statute intended to target computer break-ins—to block their competitors from accessing publicly available information on their websites? The answer to this question has wideranging implications for everyone: it could impact the public’s ability to meaningfully access publicly available information on the open web. This will impede investigative journalism and research. And in a world of algorithms and artificial intelligence, lack of access to data is a barrier to product innovation, and blocking access to data means blocking any chance for meaningful competition.

After the decision was issued, companies—almost immediately—started citing the case in cease and desist letters, demanding that competitors stop using automated methods to access publicly available information on their websites.

Some of these disputes have made their way to court, the most high profile of which is hiQ v.

LinkedIn, which involves automated access of publicly available LinkedIn data.

As law professor Orin Kerr has explained, posting information on the web and then telling someone they are not authorized to access it is “like publishing a newspaper but then forbidding someone to read it.”

The web is the largest, ever-growing data source on the planet. It’s a critical resource for journalists, academics, businesses, and everyday people alike. But meaningful access sometimes requires the assistance of technology, automating, and expediting an otherwise tedious process of accessing, collecting and analyzing public information. This process of using a computer to automatically load and read the pages of a website for later analysis is often referred to as “web scraping.”[1]

The CFAA was enacted in 1986, when there were only about 2,000 computers connected to the Internet. The law makes it a crime to access a computer connected to the Internet “without authorization” but fails to explain what this means. It was passed with the aim of outlawing computer breakins, but has since metastasized in some jurisdictions into a tool to enforce comAs a technical matter, web puter use policies, like scraping is simply machine terms of service, which no automated web browsing. one reads.

There is nothing that can be Efforts to use the CFAA done with a web scraper to threaten competitors in- that cannot be done by a creased in 2016 following human with a web browser. the Ninth Circuit’s poorly And it is important to unreasoned Facebook v. Pow- derstand that web scraping er Ventures decision. The is a widely used method of case involved a dispute be- interacting with the content tween Facebook and a so- on the web: everyone does it—even (and especially) cial media aggregator, which Facebook users had the companies trying to convince courts to punish voluntarily signed up for.

Facebook did not want its others for the same behavior. users engaging with this

search results of retailer websites, companies monitoring information posted publicly on social media to keep tabs on issues that require customer support, and businesses staying up to date on news stories relevant to their industry across multiple sources. Ecommerce businesses use automated web browsing to monitor competitors’ pricing and inventory, and to aggregate information to help manage supply chains.

Businesses also use automated web browsers to monitor websites for fraud, perform due diligence checks on their customers and suppliers, and to collect market data to help plan for the future.

These examples are not hypothetical. They come directly from Andrew Fogg, the founder of Import.io, a company that provides software that allows organizations to automatically browse the web, and are based on Import.io’s customers and users. And these examples are not the exception; they are the rule.

Gartner recommends that all businesses treat the web as their largest data source and predicts that the ability to compete in the digital economy will depend on the ability to curate and leverage web data. In the words of Gartner VP Doug Laney, “Your company’s biggest database isn’t your . . . internal database. Rather it’s the Web itself.”

Journalists and information aggregators also rely on automated web browsing. The San Francisco Chronicle used automated web browsing to gather data on Airbnb properties in order to assess the impact of Airbnb listings on the San Francisco rental market, and ProPublica used automated web browsing to uncover that Amazon’s pricing algorithm was hiding the best deals from its customers. The Internet Archive’s web crawlers service, so it sent Power Companies use automated (crawlers are one specialVentures a cease and desist web browsing products to ized example of automated letter and tried to block gather web data for a wide web browsing) work to arPower Ventures’ IP advariety of uses. Some exchive as much of the public dress. The Ninth Circuit amples from industry inweb as possible for future found that Power Ventures clude manufacturers trackgenerations. Indeed Googhad violated the CFAA afing the performance rankle’s own web crawlers that ter continuing to provide its ing of products in the power the search tool most

of us rely on every day are simply web scraping “bots.”

During a recent Ninth Circuit hearing in hiQ v.

Linkedin, LinkedIn tried to analogize the case to United States v. Jones, arguing that hiQ’s use of automated tools to access public information is different “in kind” than manually accessing that same information, just as long-term GPS monitoring of someone’s public movements is different from merely observing someone’s public movements.

The only thing that makes hiQ’s access different is that LinkedIn doesn’t like it. LinkedIn itself acknowledges in its privacy policy that it, too, uses automated tools, to “collect public information about you, such as professional-related news and accomplishments” and makes that information available on its own website—unless a user opts out via adjusting their default privacy settings.

Question: How does LinkedIn gather that data on their users? Answer: web scraping.

And of course LinkedIn doesn’t like it; it wants to block a competitor’s ability to meaningfully access the information that its users post publicly online. But just because LinkedIn or any other company doesn’t like automated access, that doesn’t mean it should be a crime.

As law professor Michael J. Madison wrote, resolving the debate about the CFAA’s scope “is linked closely to what sort of Internet society has and what sort of Internet society will get in the future.” If courts allow companies to use the CFAA to block automated access by competitors, it will threaten open access to information for everyone.

Some have argued that scraping is what dooms access to public information, because websites will just place their data behind an authentication gate. But it is naïve to think that LinkedIn would put up bar-

riers to access; LinkedIn wants to continue to allow users to make their profiles public so that a web search for a person continues to return a LinkedIn profile among the top results, so that people continue to care about the maintenance of their personal LinkedIn profiles, so that recruiters will continue to pay for access to LinkedIn recruiter products (e.g., specialized search and messaging), and so that companies will continue to pay to post job advertisements on LinkedIn. The default setting for LinkedIn profiles is public for a reason, and LinkedIn wants to keep it that way. It wants to participate in the open web to drive their business but use the CFAA to suppress competitors and avoid accepting the web’s open access norms.

The public is already losing access to information.

With the rise of proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence, both private companies and governments are making high stakes decisions that impact lives with little to no transparency. In this context, it is imperative that courts not take lightly attempts to use the CFAA to limit access to public information on the web.

The term “scraping” comes from a time before APIs, when the only way to build interoperability between computer systems was to “read” the information directly from the screen. Engineers used various terms to describe this technique, including “shredding,” “scraping,” and “reading.” Because the technique was largely only discussed in engineering circles, the choice of terminology was never widely debated. As a result, today many people still use the term “scraping,” instead of something more technically descriptive—like “screen reading” or “web reading.”

London Police Deny Looser Background Checks Put People In Danger

The Met confirmed that some cases were closed based on a risk assessment under “very strict guidelines”, but denied that the force’s decision to reportedly relax its background check system had put the vulnerable at risk.

The Metropolitan police have rejected claims that the force put children and vulnerable adults in danger Scotland Yard said: “The Met rejects the suggestion by reportedly relaxing its that cases were improperly vetting system for thouclosed placing the most sands of people. vulnerable in danger. SafeUp to 20,000 members of guarding is, and will althe public have been issued ways be, of paramount imwith disclosure and barring portance to the Met. service (DBS) certificates without full security checks “In June 2016, the Met after senior Scotland Yard confirmed that there were officers decided to relax the over 81,000 outstanding process in 2016 amid criti- cases with an average waitcism over delays, according ing time of 59 days. This presented risk to the most to leaked documents. vulnerable, in that employment of key workers could The Met temporarily be significantly delayed. dropped checks on police intelligence databases and “Alternatively, an unsuitaopted to solely use inforble employee could take up mation on the police naemployment before local tional computer system, police checks were comwhich only contains recpleted.

The cause of the ords about reprimands, problem was acknowledged warnings, criminal convictions and cautions, accord- as a significant increase in demand for the Met discloing to documents seen by sure service, as well as the the Sunday Times. recruitment and retention of At the time, the force was staff.” heavily criticised by the The Met added that a samgovernment for delays in ple of the closed cases had background checks, which been reassessed and found meant thousands of wouldthat police intelligence be NHS workers, carers would not have been used and teachers could not in these cases. work.

The use of police intelligence in background checks was mandated under the DBS system following the murders of the 10-yearold schoolfriends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, who were killed by Ian Huntley, a caretaker at a secondary school in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

Huntley had no convictions for sexual offences before he was appointed, but had previously been reported to police on six occasions over sexual assaults or sexual relationships with underage girls.

Police checks failed to unearth his past, prompting reforms in the national vetting system for people working with children and vulnerable adults.

U.S. Soldiers In Germany Go to Local Courts For DUI Offenses Barbecues, village festivals and get-togethers where alcohol is served may be a huge part of summertime fun in Germany, but the consequences of driving under the influence afterward can be a sobering reality check.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs not only endangers others, but jeopardizes government civilian careers and disrupts lives, said Robert Leist, U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz Civilian Misconduct officer.

"Government civilian employees and commandsponsored family members are subject to the criminal jurisdiction of the hostnation authorities and the administrative jurisdiction of U.S. forces under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement with established civilian misconduct programs," Leist explained.

"Civilians receiving logistical support also fall under the civilian misconduct jurisdiction. Host-nation authorities maintain criminal jurisdiction, so they will typically assign fines, fees, penalties and determine guilt or innocence. DUIs are normally processed through host-nation criminal court."According to host-nation DUI laws, violating 0.05 percent blood alcohol concentration or driving under the influence of drugs will result in the following consequences: • First Offense: 500€ fine, two point reduction and one -month driving suspension • Second Offense: 1,000€ fine, two point reduction and a three-month driving suspension • Third Offense: 1,500€ fine, two point reduction and a three-month suspension.

• Tougher DUI penalties and fines are issued by host -nation authorities if drivers endanger road traffic or their BAC is greater than 0.109 percent.

Although U.S. civilian drivers with DUIs have host-nation penalties and fines to contend with, they will still deal with Army reprimands as well, said Rick Anderson, USAG RP Civilian Misconduct officer.

"For certain BACs, German authorities may suspend a license for 90 days, but Army in Europe Regulation 190-1 requires a revocation of one year for the offense," he said.

"Whether you are a government civilian employee, government contractor or family member, if you are affiliated with the U.S. forces and receive logistical support, you must pay the host-nation fines and also abide by AER 190-1 with the revo-

cation of your license, regardless if host-nation authorities only remove driving privileges for 90 days."

one year," Anderson explained. "People who commit a second offense lose their license for five years; a third offense prohibits them from ever possessing a U.S. Forces Certificate of License again."

There is a difference between host-nation license suspensions and required U.S. forces license suspensions and revocations, AnDUI includes drugs as derson said. well.

"According to AER 1901, operation of a vehicle with 0.05 to 0.079 percent BAC will be a mandatory 90-day license suspension; 0.08 percent BAC or higher is a mandatory license revocation with petitioned reinstatement authorized after

Long-Public Nevada Arrest Database Made Secret

The public’s right to know about the workings of government is enshrined in Nevada’s public records law.

The law’s opening language says it was enacted “to foster democratic prinA database of Nevada ar- ciples by providing memrest records that was open bers of the public with acto public inspection for cess to inspect and copy decades has been made se- public books and records to cret by a new state law. the extent permitted by law.”

The Nevada Department of Public Safety, which col- Review-Journal Managing lects the information from Editor Glenn Cook said aclaw enforcement agencies cess to a fully transparent across the state, won aparrest database that inproval of the new law after cludes the names of those the Las Vegas Reviewarrested is a vital public Journal requested arrest and tool. conviction records last year.

“These records could be used to assess how often In May, DPS submitted police had arrested repeat an amendment to Assembly offenders before they were Bill 76, a measure to update finally convicted. That rules for Nevada’s main could include getting the repository of criminal his- full arrest records of drunktory information such as en drivers, killers or child arrests and convictions. The abusers,” Cook said. “This amendment prohibited re- data would shed light not leasing to the media any only on the criminal histopersonal identifying infor- ries of individuals but, mation, such as names and more importantly, the perdates of birth. The change, formance of our police and which took effect two courts.” months ago, allows the disclosure of identifying infor- ‘I don’t see any justificamation only if media retion’ questers ask for the records of a specific person.

Nevada Press Association Executive Director Barry It is unclear whether the Smith said he was not new law will permit the aware of the specific wordrelease of data for certain ing in the bill limiting what offenses, such as all homi- information reporters can cide arrests made in a given receive and believes the year, with only the names law needs to be changed. of arrestees removed.

“Everything in there is a Stephen Larrick, director public record,” he said. “I of state and local programs don’t see any justification for the Sunlight Foundafor trying to withhold the tion, a Washington, D.C., information.” nonprofit that advocates for open government, said the At a hearing on the Legislature violated the amendment before the Nespirit of Nevada’s Public vada Senate Committee on Records Act by shielding the Judiciary, Mindy the records.

McKay, Records Bureau Chief for DPS, said the “The fourth estate has the amendment was prompted right to information releby a Review-Journal revant to public discourse — quest for the data. McKay including information about said it was problematic to the criminal history of indi- release the criminal history viduals — and needs expe- database because it often dient access to such reclacked records about the ords, sometimes in bulk, in outcomes of arrests and order to hold government could be used to paint an accountable,” he said. incomplete background on innocent people.

DPS declined to comment on the law and its reason “That seems more like a for seeking the change. flaw in their database than

a reason to withhold the information,” Smith said of the rationale for suppressing arrest records because of missing information.

“Someone gets arrested 12 times, but never convicted — What’s going on there?”

was enacted.

The law, the first of its kind in Canada, will se“Sometimes we don’t verely limit police disclohave the opportunity to sure of so-called “nonwork out these issues,” Wellborn said, noting that conviction records” — allethe changes were proposed gations sitting in police a month before the Legisla- computers and notebooks that were never proven, as ture adjourned. “We McKay also noted the thought we had come to a well as 911 mental health Legislature’s efforts to help consensus on accessing this calls that police attended and logged. people whose past criminal criminal history inforproblems harm their ability mation without violating to find jobs or housing. confidentiality,” she said.

McKay said the new law Straightline would “ensure the protec“It’s critical to democracy tion of an individual’s pri- and accountability that the International vacy and protect against press be able to access in- Credit Report unauthorized disseminaformation. If the press is Matrix tion.” unable to access critical information, we want to fix Our credit history searches Democratic state Sen. that,” Wellborn said. that CRA's use to compile Tick Segerblom, who credit report.includes: chaired the hearing that ad- Ontario’s New dressed the DPS amendCriminal Record - Civil lawsuits ment, said he supported disclosing the names and Law—A Lot Of -- Bankruptcies/Insolvencies Tax Liens records of convicted of- Tax Revenue Complaints fenders but opposed releas- Hype About - Judgements ing any information about Nothing -Liens (Creditor's Claims) those who had been arrest- Foreclosures ed without conviction.

Legislation protecting in“Given our presumption of nocent Ontarians from the innocence, an arrest doesn’t release of unproven allega- *We do not compile purmean anything,” Segerblom tions and mental health rec- chase or payment histories said. ords in police background For more information conchecks will finally come tact Steven Brownstein at “If you could use the ar- into effect nearly three rest without divulging the years after it passed unani- findcrime@gmail.com name of the person, that mously in response to a Tomight be a compromise,” ronto Star investigation. he said.

Canadian The Police Record Checks “To help you guys out, I Reform Act, passed in De- Provincial think we need to go back Searches cember 2015 by a vote of and figure out a way you 93-0 at Queen’s Park, will can have access so you can become law on Nov. 1, fun- All Provincial Courts in do statistical analysis, with- damentally changing the the selected Province are out having access to the checked rules around what police name and arrest record of can tell prospective emeverybody who has been ployers, volunteer agencies All Provincial Searches arrested,” he said. are $12 each, except Alberand foreign governments ta (add $16court fee) about Ontarians.

Holly Welborn, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, was present at the hearing for a different matter and was surprised by the proposed changes.

“There is public interest in needing access to the data on arrests and demographic information,” she said at the hearing.

“Of course, it was a red flag, because we wanted the press to have access for data purposes,” she said in a phone interview.

After the hearing, Welborn worked with DPS on the language that ultimately

Germany - What We Learned From This Year’s Crime Statistics… And What We Didn’t The national crime statistics published on Tuesday indicated a dramatic drop in crime levels. At the same time, the general public think that Germany is becoming less safe. So where does the truth lie?

Reported crime has dropped drastically Thanks to a leak of the National Crime Statistics (PKS) back in April we already knew what the headline number from the crime statistics would be: reported crime dropped by 10 percent last year. That was the biggest decrease in overall crime in a quarter century, quite a spectacular turnaround after the statistics showed an increase in crime in recent years.

While overall crime sank to the lowest level since 1992, if you take population growth into account, it is actually the lowest crime rate in 30 years.

If you take the statistics at face value, for every 100,000 German citizens, less than 7,000 crimes were reported last year. By way of comparison, in 2005 some 7,622 crimes were reported for every 100,000 people in Germany.

It’s not just about illegal border crossings A major reason for the higher crime rate in 2015 and 2016 was actually intentional government policy. When Angela Merkel opened the country’s borders to refugees in 2015, the hundreds of thousands of people who streamed into the country without official papers were technically committing a crime.

This led to a big bump in overall reported crime in both years, as the PKS statistics included illegal border crossings. When immigration infringements were taken out of the figures for

2016, crime actual dropped. like racial abuse.

Because refugee arrivals had already slowed to a trickle by 2017, anything but a drop in overall crime would have been a big surprise.

Anti-Semitic crime rose by 2.5 percent in comparison with 2016. The vast majority (95 percent) of these crimes were reportedly carried out by the farright. But how this particuBut the fall in recorded lar statistic is recorded has crime is about much more been heavily criticized due than just border crossings. to the fact that any swastikas sprayed on a wall is Burglaries dropped by 23 automatically attributed to gations, saw a rise in its percent last year. That fol- the far-right. extremism investigations low a 10 percent drop in from 68 in 2013 to 1,200 in break-ins in 2016 and sig- What the statistics don’t 2017,” Diehl writes. tell us nals a major success for public awareness camThe Dunkelfeld paigns after an all time high The interesting thing about crime in Germany in 2015.

The BKA also stresses on today is that, while the au- its website that the statistics The surge in break-ins that thorities claim crime is go- only cover reported crime. year led police to create a ing down, the public say Essentially, if police don't website to inform people on they feel less secure. A sur- know that a crime hapvey in March indicated that pened then they can't report how to better secure their homes, for example by in- 44 percent of Germans it in their statistics. This stalling shutters and better think that the country is unknown crime is called less safe now than it was in the Dunkelfeld (literally: locking systems. years gone by. dark field).

The Interior Ministry The explanation for this could also report positive “There are some types of could have little to do with crime like theft where we news on violent crime, which dropped by 2.4 per- actual crime levels. Argua- have a pretty low Dunkelcent. Nonetheless, that does bly, media reports on the feld. That’s because, if you migrant crisis and heated not reverse a 6.7 percent have something stolen you jump in violent crime rec- rhetoric by the anti-Islam report it for insurance reaAlternative for Germany orded in 2016. sons,” a BKA spokesperson party have created an exag- told DPA. A turn around in political gerated fear of the danger posed by over a million mi- But for many other types crime grants who arrived in the of crime, the Dunkelfeld is country in 2015 and 2016. much, much higher.

For the first time since 2012, the Interior Ministry reported a drop in political- But there are also signifiIn the field of narcotics ly motivated crime for last cant holes in the official for instance, crime is only statistics which bring their discovered when police year. validity as a true measure catch someone in possesof crime into question.

Roughly 40,000 such sion of a banned substance. crimes were recorded in Every time someone sells 2017, marking a 4.9 percent Not a complete record marijuana or cocaine and decline. More than half of the transaction is not disthese crimes were believed The Federal Investigations covered, a crime is committo have a right-wing motive Office (BKA), which pub- ted that does not appear in lished the statistics, indibehind them. the statistics. cates on its own website that there are certain types The figures for violent “The criminal statistics of illegal behaviour that are only give an approximation political crime were even more encouraging - drop- not included in the statisin this area,” the BKA ping by 13 percent to 3,754 tics. For instance, traffic spokesperson said. infringements aren't there, reported incidents. nor are terrorism-related In fact, studies indicate Part of the reason for the offences, which are dealt that the Dunkefeld is so fall in political crime is to with by the Staatsschutz high for certain types of be found in the refugee cri- (state security). crime that the police only sis passing its zenith. As know about a tiny proporthe number of migrants ar- Der Spiegel journalist tion of cases. riving in Germany has fall- Jörg Diehl reports that roughly 20 percent of all en, the number of attacks A survey conducted by the on asylum centres has also known crime is not record- state police in Lower Saxoed in the annual police re- ny last year, in which memdropped off. port. bers of the public were Nonetheless, it wasn’t all asked inf they had been a “The federal prosecution victim of crime during the good news in the category service, which only deals of political crime, which year, indicated that 93 peralso includes “hate crimes” with certain terror investi-

cent of sexual offences are not reported and only 12 percent of hate crimes are reported.

Meanwhile, a study from the late 1990s suggests that every second murder in Germany is never discovered, because the official postmortem wrongly ascribed it to natural causes.

“The statistics are only a small snippet of what crimes were actually committed and it only shows what police did, not what developed further with prosecutors,” RuhrUniversity Bochum criminology professor Tobias Singelnstein told The Local last year.

“They are not statistics so much about criminality, but rather they are statistics on police behaviour, or how the police operated in the past year.

“What segment of crime is shown depends on how the police operated, and in particular on the reports from the population. It also reflects how the reporting behaviour of the public may have changed.”

The German Police Union has therefore called for the government to publish security reports rather than raw police statistics. The reports would include survey results and thus give a more realistic picture of developments in actual crime, the police union claims.

Public Records Hard To Access In Minnesota Getting your hands on government information in the state of Minnesota is not always as easy as it may sound. In fact in some cases it may be impossible.

A KARE 11 investigation found the state categorizes information as private that can be easily accessed in other states. From online court records to complaints against teachers or doctors.

And recently the Center for Public Integrity gave Minnesota an “F” for the public’s ability to access information.

Online Court Access Last year the Ramsey County Attorney charged Wilbert Glover with the kidnapping and rape of a teenager. Court records allege the victim finally escaped after being chained in a basement for four days.

"I opened the door and there’s this kid just standing there. And he had all these chains,” said Tina Muedeking, who lived near the home. “He said he was attacked from behind and choked until he passed out.”

The Minnesota Courts system has a public website where it says you can “access case records” but if you search Wilbert Glover’s name online, you’d never know he’s awaiting trial on four felonies.

Matt Ehling founded the non-profit Public Record Media, a group that advocates for open records and holds workshops to teach people how to find public documents. He says getting information can be tough in the state.

"There are a lot of ways agencies can play games with you to deny access to information,” he said.

And KARE 11 found information online in other states is not easily available in Minnesota.

"Definitely a difference,” received about the contrache said when searching for tor are not public either. online information in other "We keep a lot of this instates. formation secret which I don’t necessarily think is For example, Florida lets the best thing,” said DFL you look up a teacher's State Representative John name online and see inLesch of St. Paul. stantly whether they’ve ever been suspended. With a He believes people desimple click, you can read serve to know more, espethe reason. cially if they’re trying to find information about But not in Minnesota. someone they’re about to Here you can look up if a hire. teacher is currently licensed, but there’s no indi- "If they’re denied this incation whether the license formation that is relevant in simply expired or was re- making a decision then voked – let alone why. that’s a problem. The public is fooled,” he said.

“It’s hard to tell what the rationale for the revocation That brings us back to was,” said Ehling.

Minnesota’s online court system. If you actually go It's not just complaints to a courthouse, you see about teachers that can be information about cases difficult, if not impossible like Wilbert Glover’s kidto find in Minnesota. napping charges as soon as their filed.

Complaints Private in Minnesota But the public can’t find it online by searching a name After complications with a until after a case is over. knee surgery, Mike Cum- That can take years. You mings wanted to know can find information online whether the state had other if you already have the case complaints about his doc- number. Critics say that’s a tors and nurses. When KA- “Catch 22”. After all, you RE 11 asked Minnesota wouldn’t have the case licensing officials for that number unless you already information , the state told knew about the case. us "complaint and investigative data … is classified That’s in sharp contrast to as non-public" unless Wisconsin’s online court there’s formal disciplinary system where you can look action. up both criminal and civil cases right away. You The same thing is true if don’t have to wait until the you try to check on comcourt case is closed. plaints about police brutality. When Brandon Skinner Some people defend filed an excessive force Minnesota’s current syslawsuit against police offic- tem of preventing easy ers in Columbia Heights, online access to court casKARE 11 asked to see cop- es until they’re over. ies of any earlier complaints against the same "If they’re convicted, yes. officers.

Consumers should know about it,” said attorney But we were told comJulia Shmidov-Latz. “But plaints about a police ofif they’re not convicted, if ficer “are public only if the they are just charged based complaint or charge results on an allegation, then I in disciplinary action.” think that individual’s rights should be protectAnd what about checking ed.” up on a questionable contractor? KARE 11 recently Schmidov-Latz sits on reported customers who the Supreme Court Adviclaimed a local fence con- sory Committee that overtract took their down pay- sees access to criminal ments, but failed to do the court records. She argues work. The Minnesota Atif someone wants to find torney General told us by information about cases law the complaints they’ve before there’s a verdict,

needs to be updated,” he they can find time during regular business hours to go said. to the courthouse.

Matt Ehling is more concerned with the fact there is "The transparency exists.

The transparency is there. not enough oversight of the This is truly a question of current Minnesota law. convenience.” she said.

Case in point, if someone Representative Lesch be- believes a government lieves releasing more infor- agency isn’t releasing enough information, they mation is better. can go to the Minnesota Information Policy Analy"We should be able to know if there are credible sis Division (IPAD ) for help. But that agency only claims short of a convicoffers advisory opinions on tion,” he said. whether a government In fact, when it comes to agency is providing all the information it should. credible accusations, the attorney argues the state of “One thing that could realMinnesota should take a page from today’s Catholic ly be done to help out is to church which now releases give the public an avenue to challenge agencies if information about priests who are credibly accused of they don’t want to go to court,” said Ehling. “Most abuse. people can’t afford it or they don’t have the exper"So you’re saying the tise.”

Catholic church is doing more than the state of MinIt is one reason why the nesota as far as access to information?" asked report- Center for Public Integrity er Jay Olstad. gave Minnesota a low score when it comes to accessing "Yes. In certain situations, information in the state. yes,” Lesch replied.

“An agency that is supLesch would like lawmak- posed to be regulating this ers to take a closer look at data really has no teeth. the Minnesota Data Practic- They send out an advisory opinion and that’s it,” said es Act to make improveKatie G. Nelson, author of ments. the Center for Public Integ“The Minnesota data prac- rity report. tices act is decades old, it

Bahamas Police Resume Police Clearance Issuance Police have resumed criminal record vetting — but the process is now taking 15 days.

The Bermuda Police Service shut the Criminal Records Office after material containing asbestos was found in a cabinet on July 3.

Police said the office has now been temporarily relocated in the force’s Human Resources Department.

But they warned: “The turnaround time for processing applications, for which no issues are identified, has been extended to 15 working days.

“Applications that encounter any ‘red flag indicators/concerns’ such as recent police contact, criminal cases past or current will likely cause further delays or may not be able to be completed until full resumption of operations can be achieved.”

The Human Resources Department is next to the old location at Police HQ in Prospect. Hours remain 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.

Any outstanding vetting requests submitted on or before July 2, require resubmission of the original paperwork, along with the Bermuda Government issued receipt.

Police have resumed criminal record vetting — but the process is now taking 15 days.

The Bermuda Police Service shut the Criminal Records Office after material containing asbestos was found in a cabinet on July 3.

Police said the office has now been temporarily relocated in the force’s Human Resources Department.

But they warned: “The turnaround time for pro-

cessing applications, for which no issues are identified, has been extended to 15 working days.

tem.

Because of that, city and county employees and journalists met with representatives from the Idaho Su“Applications that encounter any ‘red flag indi- preme Court Information Division and Tyler Techcators/concerns’ such as recent police contact, crimi- nologies, who run the new iCourt repository system, nal cases past or current Tuesday to talk about ways will likely cause further delays or may not be able to fix problem areas for them and the public. to be completed until full resumption of operations The iCourt portal system can be achieved.” is relatively new in Idaho.

Only 16 more counties in The Human Resources Idaho need to transition to Department is next to the old location at Police HQ in the new system, which has been done incrementally, Prospect. Hours remain starting with Twin Falls 9am to 3pm, Monday to County in June 2015. The Friday. portal allows people to search for court records and Any outstanding vetting make court payments. requests submitted on or before July 2, require reComplaints during Tuessubmission of the original paperwork, along with the day’s meeting in the Idaho Supreme Court building in Bermuda Government isBoise included the system sued receipt. not being mobile or tablet Idaho Hits Snags friendly, and name searches

With New Online Court Portal Idaho counties and residents have experienced some frustrating hiccups with the transition to a new online court records sys-

not working on the website.

A captcha code was recently incorporated onto An Ada County clerk em- the site to help with securiployee voiced her concern ty and combating traffic to that the public seems very the site, she said. frustrated with the system.

They take more calls now A next step is to make with the new system than sure all county courthouses they ever used to when Ida- are on the same page about ho was using the old iStar what resources from the repository system. site are available, according to Kevin Iwersen, chief inThe Idaho Press reported formation officer of the in November, a month after court, and Carley Nelson, Canyon County implement- with the information divied the portal, that while use sion. of the system was going well for county employees, For instance, all county it was not user friendly for courthouses are supposed the public. to have computers available to view documents related to cases in the office, In recent weeks, Kristy Grabo, with the information Iwersen said. And not all division at the Idaho Surequests for records need to preme Court, said an error be approved by judges. message that showed up Iwersen said the Idaho after a name search on the iCourts site has been fixed. Supreme Court, along with In some cases, attendees of Tyler Technologies, is the lunch reported it would- making it a priority to imn’t work for an entire day prove users’ experience or more. with the portal.

All Idaho counties are set to be transitioned to the portal system by October of this year.

Public Sex No Longer A Crime In Guadalajara It’s now less risky to get frisky in public in Guadalajara.

Mexico’s second-largest city has made it harder to police sexual activity in places like parks, alleys, entertainment venues and cars by ordering cops to look the other way most of the time.

Proponents say the change protects the publicly amorous from being shaken down by bribe-hungry officers, a common practice, while critics worry that it could encourage lewd acts in full view of people just going about their day.

Under the modification to the Policing and Good Government Code passed in August, public sexual acts continue to be an administrative offence, sanctioned by a fine or brief detention.

The change is that officers can only intervene in such dalliances if they’ve received a specific complaint from a third party who feels uncomfortable.

“The only thing we added is that for police to detain that couple, a citizens’ request is required,” said Guadalupe Morfin, a city councillor who proposed the measure.

She argued that it would discourage police corruption, refocus officers on more serious offences and not lead to any increase in lewd behaviour.

“Nobody wants there to be people having sex in public in sight of boys and girls,” Morfin said.

“That is not educational. It is troublesome.”

But Livier Martinez of the conservative National Action Party, the only council member to vote nay, argued that there are other ways to tackle corruption.

Lap Dancing Is Now Criminal In Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that law enforcement had received a It flouts Jalisco state civil statement from the state attorney’s office saying lap code articles on morality and exhibitionism, she add- dancing can be considered a form of prostitution and ed, and may leave police therefore an offence. unsure what they can and cannot do in such cases.

Officers are now awaiting instructions on how to en“I don’t understand limitforce the rule, he said. ing a police officer from being able to act to prevent “The phenomenon known a crime,” Martinez said. as ‘lap dance’ constitutes in “And second: It’s not at all certain circumstances an pleasant to go around see‘act of prostitution’,” says ing (people) in the street the policy ruling. having sexual relations in parks or in vacant lots, or in “The continuation of this … alleys.” activity will constitute an Stumbling across a couple offence and cause for takhaving sex in public is not a ing all the measures in the daily occurrence in Guada- law,” including against lajara or elsewhere in Mex- business owners, it said. ico, for that matter.

The police have informed strip clubs about the change However many young in policy and warned they people live with their parwould act to enforce it, the ents into adulthood, have ruling said. no privacy at home and don’t have the money to Rosenfeld confirmed that pay for by-the-hour motels “some letters have been that are all over the place. sent out” to club owners.

There are no reliable staWhile the state attorney’s tistics to say how common office is using administrapublic sex actually is, in tive tools to toughen enpart because such cases almost never make it into the forcement, MPs from both government and opposijudicial system. Instead, they’re settled on the street tion are also sponsoring by bribing cops to avoid a amendments to the law which would criminalise trip to the station. striptease as “part of the cycle of prostitution”.

What are very common, however, are stories – especially from young people – “The bill is designed to of police demanding bribes reflect in Israeli law the over more tame behaviour direct connection between striptease and prostitution, that’s well short of intercourse and would be better both of which perpetuate described as “making out”. harmful and humiliating attitudes towards women and their bodies,” the draft “Sometimes they’re not even having sex in public, amendment says. “The stripping industry is closejust kissing or things like ly linked to the prostituthat. But (police) do it to tion industry, and a large get money, to take advantage of this,” said An- proportion of the strip drea Quintana, a student in clubs are used as brothels.”

Guadalajara.

“So I think it’s good that now they have to have proof that someone was really doing something bad to have to take them away.”

Though prostitution itself is legal in Israel, most related activities, such as soliciting, pimping and brothel-keeping, are criminal offences.

Last month the government endorsed a bill to fine prostitutes’ clients, which is expected to go before parliament after the summer recess.

The Worlds's Most Dangerous Cities

ders that year, came in at thirty-sixth place.

Violence in Central and South America is caused in great part by drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and gang wars. Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are major shipping points for South American cocaine, which travels through Mexico to reach American consumers. Between 2007 and 2012, it is estimated that there were nearly 38,000 drug-related fatalities in Mexico alone.

Though rates of gang and drug-related activities in Mexico reportedly fell from 2007 to 2012 due to a government squeeze, traffickers have gone elsewhere and violence surged in other regions.

The Citizens' Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice published a ranking of the world’s most dangerous cities in 2015, ranking cities according to the number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants that year. Los Cabos, Mexico ranked first on the list, with a murder rate of 111.33 per 100,000 inhabitants. That year, there were 365 homicides in Caracas, while the city had a population of Meanwhile, violence in 328 thousand people. Los Central and South America Cabos was followed by Cahas influenced immigration racas, Venezuela with murfrom affected areas into the der rate of 111.19 United States. Migration from Mexico to the U.S. is Most of the world’s most considered the largest midangerous cities were locat- gration flow in the world, ed in Central or South with 11.6 million migrants America. St. Louis in the in 2010.

United States with a murder rate of 60.23 and 188 murders committed in 2016, ranked fourteenth and was one of seven cities outside of Central or South America to make it into the top fifty. Detroit, with a murder rate of 43.63 and 302 mur-

A Cool Database - Chicago Police Arrests The Chicago Police Department has an official website for searching arrest records.

This site is made available for the use and benefit of law enforcement partners, news media, and members of the public to search Chicago Police public arrest records including Name, Mugshot, Age, Address, Central Booking Number, Charges, Arrest Date/Time, Arrest Location, Date Time Released from Chicago Police Facility, Bond Type/ Amount/Date, and the geographic police area/district/

http://publicsearch1.chicagopolice.org/Arrests

offenders who have registered near that particular beat. time of arrest. address. The map does not -Arrests made by Chicago they were provided to po- display registered sex ofArrest records provided Police Department. (Does lice officers in the field at fenders who have identified on this public website or not include Arrests by the time of arrests. themselves as homeless. through its interface pertain County Sheriff, State PoHomeless Registered Sex to individuals who have lice, or Surrounding MunicAll photos and inforOffenders are searchable been charged with a crime ipalities). mation will automatically through a supplemental as an adult. be removed after thirty (30) web application below. days from the arrest date.

All named offenders are View Homeless Sex presumed innocent unless Chicago These individuals are preand until proven guilty in a Prostitution sumed innocent until prov- Offender Database court of law. If expunged, Arrests Database en guilty in a court of law. the appropriate record(s) While We’re Chicago are removed. For information concerning the exAt It Sex Offender Prostitution pungement process, visit: Database here Database Police Records & ProceThe Chicago Police Dedures partment mission is to proThe CLEARMAP Sex The Chicago Police Devide excellent police serOffenders web application Records are limited to: partment in conjunction vice and build “community enables you to search the -Arrests on or after January with the Mayor's office partnerships”.

1st, 2014. have now made prostitution Chicago Police Department’s database of regis-Adults (18 and over) at solicitors' information Often while striving to available online. By using tered sex offenders. The accomplish this mission, Chicago Police Department this website, you will be police officers provide the able to view public records maintains a list of sex ofservice “above and befenders residing in the City on individuals who have yond” the norm. COPA apbeen arrested for soliciting of Chicago who are repreciates that you are takprostitutes or other related quired to register under the ing time to let COPA and Sex Offender Registration arrests. the Chicago Police DepartAct, 730 ILCS 150/2, et ment know when police The following individuals seq. The data is updated officers do a good job. were arrested and charged once per day. for either patronizing or Compliment an Officer soliciting for prostitution. It View Sex Offender is not a comprehensive list Database of all individuals arrested by the Chicago Police Department for patronizing or The CLEARMAP Sex soliciting for prostitution. Offenders web application The names, identities and requires an address to be citations appear here as entered and displays sex

One Would Think This Lawsuit Has To Do With Record Scapers

nised by police as hate crimes in England and Wales. Women are protected from being discriminated at work because of their sex, and Creasy believes it's The lawsuit seeks a pretime to remedy the situation liminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Jones in the courtroom.

A lawsuit claims the Ben- from applying the order in tonville District Court clerk a manner that violates asso- What counts as a hate ciation members' rights un- crime? refuses to provide backder the state Freedom of ground screen companies The vote will come two access to records from her Information Act. The lawsuit wants the court to demonths after the end of a court. clare that National Associa- two-year trial in Nottingtion of Professional Back- hamshire, whose police The lawsuit was filed on ground Screeners members force began recording inbehalf of the National Ashave a right to the records. stances of "misogyny hate sociation of Professional crime" in July 2016. The Background Screeners in force became the first in the The lawsuit is also seekPulaski Circuit Court UK to include the following a monetary judgment against Jennifer Jones, ing behaviours within its clerk of Bentonville's dis- for the costs incurred and definition of hate crime: attorney's fees. trict court. whistling, leering, groping, sexual assault, being folAccording to the lawsuit, lowed home, taking unthe association is a nonwanted photos on mobiles, profit trade group that rep- Misogyny Could upskirting, sexually explicit resents companies offering language, threatening/ Become A Hate employment, tenant and bevolunteer background Crime Soon But aggressive/intimidating haviour, indecent exposure, screening services.

Not Everyone Is unwanted sexual advances and online abuse.

The lawsuit accuses Jones On Board of using her official posiOther police forces – tion to frustrate and threat- In the UK, MPs will vote North Yorkshire, Northen the background check on whether misogyny amptonshire, and Avon and process the organization should be considered a hate Somerset – have since imrelies on each day. The suit crime across the UK for the plemented similar policies, states Jones is relying "on a first time, following an inand there are calls for Longross misinterpretation" of tensification in the camdon's Metropolitan Police an order by the Arkansas paign for police to take to do the same.

Supreme Court. street harassment against women more seriously.

Why it matters Jones said she had not seen the lawsuit and deLabour MP and women's A huge majority of young clined to comment. rights champion Stella women (85%) and nearly Creasy is calling for the half (45%) of all women in Jones requires any person upskirting bill, which crimthe UK have been sexually inalised taking photos up a seeking individual court harassed in public places, records to pay $5,000, com- woman's skirt without her with just a tenth receiving knowledge or consent in plete a compiled records help after these incidents. license agreement and ob- England and Wales, to be Campaigners argue that tain a compiled records li- amended to add misogyny without recognising the imas an aggravating factor. cense from the Arkansas pact of misogyny in the exMPs including Jess Philips, Administrative Office of periences of women, our the Courts, according to the Tonia Antoniazzi, and Lulegal and criminal justice ciana Berger, support the complaint. system fails to record the amendment. true extent of hostility The complaint states the based on gender.

The change would compel Arkansas Supreme Court order and compiled records police forces to record acts Sam Smethers, chief execagainst women, such as license are to be used for utive of the Fawcett Sociegroping and using explicit obtaining bulk electronic ty, said the charity supports language, and allow courts data extracts for a large Stella Creasy’s amendment, to consider misogynistic number of individuals at "because unless we recogonce, so it is impossible for behaviour when sentencing nise the scale of misogyny background screening com- offenders (as well as more in our society we won’t serious offences such as panies seeking individual begin to address it. Misogcase records to comply with assault). yny is a hate crime and the requirements for obtaintargeting women because ing a license.

Offences motivated by they are women should be race, religion, trans identi- regarded as an aggravatty, sexual orientation and The complaint states reing factor in such crimes." disability are already recogquests for access to court records by association members are governed by the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Then there's the everyday sexist behaviour that womThere have been a string en have reported putting up of high-profile instances of with offline that would also be classified as misogyny misogynistic harassment against women in the pub- hate crime: from wolfwhistling and inappropriate lic eye in recent years, comments (as a 19-year-old which would would been classified as misogyny hate experienced from a club crimes if the proposed law bouncer in August), to being touched on the Tube had been in place. and exposed to porn on Numerous MPs who sup- public transport. port women's rights have What it means for women spoken about the abused they've suffered for being The charity Citizens UK, female and in the public which is spearheading the eye. In March, the SNP's Mhairi Black revealed the calls for a national roll-out of the policy, says the it full scale of misogynistic would encourage more abuse she has faced since women to come forward becoming an MP, which included being "physically and report offences and bepressed up" against a col- lieves it would contribute to a change in social attitudes league accused of sexual towards women. "By remisconduct and verbal cording cases of misogynisabuse. In June, Labour's Jess Phillips revealed she tic abuse and harassment as hate crimes, the police, the once received 600 rape public and lawmakers will threats in a single night be in a position to map out from anonymous trolls online. when and where women are being abused, so we can build a society that does not Female bloggers and influencers and feminist com- tolerate hate directed against any person on the mentators have similarly spoken out about the abuse basis of their identity," they've suffered online as a Charlotte Fischer, senior direct result of their gender. community organiser at the charity, told Refinery29.

"The emails rarely mentioned the topic at hand: instead they focussed on She said treating misogymy age, used phrases like ny as a hate crime is "one step in the long-term pro'little girl', described rape fantasies involving me and cess of addressing societal norms and generating the called me 'ugly' and 'disgusting'," said journalist cultural shift required to Dawn Foster in as far back make this behaviour unacas 2011. ceptable." Fischer continued: "Women would also be encouraged to come forIn 2015, barrister Charlotte Proudman, 29, found ward and report offences, knowing that the police are herself at the centre of a taking these incidents serisexism row when she acously and are dealing rocused a fellow lawyer of inappropriate behaviour on bustly with the root causes Twitter. He had called her of more serious forms of LinkedIn picture "stunning" violence against women." and said she "won the continues prize" for the best photo, and when she called him out she received rape Quality record threats, death threats and searches newspaper front pages laWorldwide belling her a "feminazi".

What it means in practise

Straightline

Misogny Beomes A Crime, Cont,. ... but not everyone agrees it's worthwhile -Research into the impact of the change in Nottinghamshire by Nottingham and Nottingham Trent universities, published in July, found that such harassment remained "highly prevalent" and "still significantly under-reported" in Nottinghamshire two years on. A staggering 93.7% of respondents said they had either experienced or witnessed street harassment, with the following behaviours experienced most frequently:

can’t say."

Texas Conviction Database For Sale And Who Has Purchased It So Far

-Sexually explicit language (54.3%) -Threatening/aggressive/ intimidating behaviour (51.8%) -Unwanted sexual advances (48.9%)

There are three key reasons why the completeness, consistency, and accuracy of state criminal record repositories could be suspect—

• 9 states report an additional delay of at least 31 days and as much as over one year after the record

Customers

U.S. Department Of Justice Releases Latest Survey Regarding State Criminal Record Repositories

The basis for these concerns is supported by documented facts provided by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Here Are Some EyeCatching Facts Reported by The Survey Includes This Survey

Some Disturbing Facts on the Currency and Accuracy of Records Employers and state occupation licensing boards often depend on states’ criminal record repositories as primary resources when performing a criminal record background checks.

has been received and before it is entered into the state’s criminal record database.

• There were 2,294,309 unprocessed or partially processed court case dispositions left hanging for 23 states including 502,009 from AZ, 331,200 from CT, and 225,500 from PA.

Database For Pre-Employment Purposes

Can you or can't you?

• 14 states report 20% or more of all dispositions re- That is not the question.

Rather, the question is ceived could NOT be linked to the arrest/charge should you? information in the state criminal record database.

13 states don’t know how many dispositions they have that cannot be linked.

However, employers and • 8 states report a delay boards may not realize that when a felony case is de-

The public said they supported the policy, the wom- a en who reported misogyny hate crimes were largely positive about it, and the police were also largely in favour, but a small number of officers were “dismissive” and “not in favour" of introducing it, the research found. Some officers said it was a waste of time and resources, while others described "feel [ing] sorry for blokes because they must be confused by what they can and

of at least 31 days and as much as over one year.

• There were 23,297,400 name-based background checks performed by states nationwide. One wonders about the accuracy of these Every two years the checks when compared to DOJ’s Bureau of Justice the same name searched at Statistics releases an exten- the courts. sive Survey of State Criminal History Information Using The CPIC Systems.

By Michael Sankey

-Groping (46.2%) The continued prevalence of misogynistic hate crimes, the report conclude, was "partly due to the ‘normalisation’ of these incidents and people’s lack of knowledge that the policy exists." Women in the county were also still reluctant to report physical or sexual assault, "often through fear that the police will not take their complaints seriously, or through a fear that they will be blamed."

cided and when the record is received by repository

The Texas Department of Public Safety keeps a list of customers who have bought their Conviction Database 1. Timeliness of Receiving and what date they bought Arrest and Disposition Data it.

2. Timeliness of Entering It is rather interesting and Arrest and Disposition Data into the Repository includes a familiar list of companies in our industry.

3. Inability to Match Dispowith Existing Arrest Conviction Database sitions Records

-Whistling (62.9%) -Leering (56%)

search of these record repositories may not be as accurate and complete as assumed, regardless if fingerprints are submitted.

SE Asia Criminal Record Prices

• Fact -Only criminal record information concerning indictable and hybrid offences is held by CPIC. • Fact - The names of persons who have been charged but never convicted cannot be accessed from the CPIC database (with some exceptions).

• Fact - Information stored in local and provincial criminal records systems may or may not be found in the CPIC database. Since there is no legislation in place that requires local police to submit criminal information to CPIC (with the exception of the Young Offenders Act), the criminal records of the central system do not reflect the totality of records that exist.

• Fact - Local or provincial reporting systems contain various record information relating to summary offences (misdemeanors) and provincial statutes not found in CPIC. According to Les Rosen, NAPBS Chairperson and FCRA-compliance authority: "There are some counties in certain states that are available on a database.

However, employers should never use a criminal database for employment decisions, and should always make sure that a screening company is utilizing the most hands-on means available to obtain criminal records, which is usually an on-site search at the courthouse. There are a number of disadvantages to a database search. First, the database may not be absolutely current. Secondly, not all counties have criminal records on the database. Third, databases are notorious for being inaccurate. Fourth, if an applicant’s name does appear, the actual records must still be pulled from the courthouse. Denying employment based just upon a name in a database without reviewing the actual court file would violate a number of laws and rights of applicants. Employers who rely on databases for employment decisions are opening themselves up to serious lawsuits. The bottom line is that an employer who relies upon such a database, and still hires a person with a criminal record resulting in some claim of damages, may not have the legal protection they thought they had. There would be a considerable legal question as to whether having used a database would provide evidence of due diligence. In other words, databases may well not demonstrate that an employer took reasonable care."

Based on the knowledge of these facts provided by The John Howard Society of Alberta the only question you need ask yourself is should I?

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