The Online Mug Shot Racket

In May 2013, he found his 2006 police mug shot on a website. Jones was arrested for burglarizing an apartment he’d recently moved out of after a breakup, but Florida prosecutors decided shortly afterward to drop the case. But if he wanted the photo taken down, the site’s operator told him it would cost $399.

Sites like mugshots.com use web-scraping programs to collect photos and information from police websites and compile them online, and then remove the information if someone complains and pays a fee of up to $1,000. One CEO of a mugshot website said his site was doing a public service: “I absolutely believe that a parent, for instance, has a right to know if their kid’s coach has been arrested.” But as critics argue, it’s not a public service if someone can pay the site $500 to get their photo and information removed. States like Georgia are passing laws to make it so that the sites are required to remove the photos free of charge if a person can provide proof that the charges were dismissed.

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.