The Obscurity project targets some of major mug-shots websites
by obfuscating their records.
The Obscurity project targets some of major mug-shots websites
by obfuscating their records.
Targeted Mug-shot Websites:
These websites have been cloned and indexed on search engines with similar domain names. The mug-shots and names has been shuffled and the photos blurred out.
More on How It Was Done
Mug-shot websites are designed to expose tragic photos on the Internet to embarrass people who have been arrested regardless of the time spent in jail, the type of crime, or even if the charges were later dropped.
They monetize by charging a picture removal fee of hundreds of dollars or placing advertising alongside listed booking data.
More about the Online Publication of Mug-shots
Mug-shots websites can effectively ruin someone's reputation with social stigmas and attendant prejudgments in their communities, families, and workplaces.
Obscurity advocates for the Right to Remove harmful personal information from search engines.
More on the Right to Remove
Read and Sign the Petition
On Obscurity’s mug-shot websites, the social context of the arrest such as location, age, race, and charges are kept accurate so you can judge without the identity of the accused being exposed.
More about the Participatory Judging by the Audience
The mug-shot removal process should be democratic to engage the public in a debate about respect and empathy for the individuals affected.
Finally, the Obscurity project will provide an automated takedown script to remove webpages of mug-shots websites from search engines results.
Currently, Google still indexes these websites:
Search engines should crack down harder on the mug-shot websites by removing those sites from search results.