'The hacking groups EquationCorp and USDoD are reportedly responsible for a major data breach involving the criminal record database. The breach, which resulted in the online leak of the database, contains 70 million entries. It includes the full names, dates of birth, known aliases, addresses, arrest and conviction dates, sentences and other information of millions of Americans who had encounters with the U.S. justice system between 2020 and 2024.'
I think employers, landlords, and potential dates should be able to use such information in making decisions. People who have stayed out of trouble should benefit from that, and social and career costs of criminal behavior will deter crime.
It does not deter crimes, and it makes life harder for those who were effectively jailed for being poor (eg, jailed because unable to afford a traffic fine), those who have turned their life around, and more.
We know that rich people aren't effectively ostracized despite a widely published legal history, as convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein demonstrated.
This ain't just bad, it's a complete shitshow. It's like Ashley Madison times 10,000—basically, everyone on the planet just got access to a database of anyone who's ever been arrested in the US.
I think employers, landlords, and potential dates should be able to use such information in making decisions. People who have stayed out of trouble should benefit from that, and social and career costs of criminal behavior will deter crime.