States have different laws governing the public availability of criminal records, but many make mug shots publicly available almost instantly, and yours could be online in less than 24 hours. Once it's posted, is there any way to get it taken down? You could end up never being charged with a crime, or your case could be dropped.
Nevertheless, your published mug shot could be enough to cost you your job or reputation, for your name to be wrongly besmirched. In such a case, should you pay to have your mug shot removed from the Internet? In recent years, more than a dozen states have enacted laws to limit posting mug shots online. Measures include prohibiting publishing mug shots online altogether, prohibiting charging to take the photos down, and limiting access of mug shots in the private sector.
But in states that don't have such laws, once a mug shot becomes public record, any number of for-profit websites can grab the photos and post them for public view. Even local newspapers generate traffic by publishing photos on their websites. The problem is much larger than a single website.
This problem gave birth to a complementary business that some critics say might be as shady as the sites that publish the mug shots. Contacting all of the websites directly may be daunting, but you can simply pay one company to remove the images for you.
Costs range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on how many websites publish the mugshot. One removal site is Erasemugshots. Given that it's possible to get your mug shot removed, the next question is whether or not you should pay to have it done. As it turns out, that depends on whom you ask and which sites you use for removal. Ostroff believes the most reliable way to get your mug shot removed is paying a fee to the actual site rather than using a third-party service.
In May Califonia's attorney general charged four owners of Mugshots. At the time Mugshots. If the case was sealed or expunged, you might be able to have the image removed free of charge. Anything posted to the internet is available somewhere. It becomes a matter of personal choice whether you want to pay a fee to have a mug shot removed from the internet.
But paying to remove what is plainly visible will likely work. National Conference of State Legislators. The Marshall Project. Erase Mugshots. The Washington Post. Its Owners are Charged With Extortion. Follow some of the solutions below in order to find out how to have the information removed from Jailbase and similar websites that show mugshots online.
Unfortunately, this online industry profits off the misfortune of others and is often quite distasteful — this means it is hard to remove an image. When a mugshot becomes public record, websites looking to make a profit immediately post the images for public consumption. Even the media like newspapers publish mugshots in order to drive more traffic to their websites. Getting a mugshot removed from search results can be difficult but will help greatly with your online reputation.
A quick Google name search will display the mugshot as well as links to the websites that have published the information. Whether you were never formally charged with the crime, were found to be innocent or the records were sealed by the court, the information and images will still appear because you were arrested. There are a number of methods to get mugshots removed from the World Wide Web:.
Step 1 — Contact the relevant site or their webmaster directly to remove a mugshot. Find out what their criteria they have for removing a mugshot from their site and whether you meet this criteria. If you meet the criteria, the webmaster should voluntarily remove the image from the page permanently which means it will no longer appear as would be the case with suppressing the information on a search engine.
Step 2 — Contact Google or another relevant search engine to get help with removal of the mugshot. Search engines can suppress search results for mugshots or other information if there are legal reasons for them to do so.
If you can prove that published information is harmful or puts you at risk, they can remove your personal information. However, Google and search engines in general do not commonly remove information that is already open to the general public. Step 3 — Contact a removal service who will remove arrest record from internet for a fee. However, it is important to be aware that companies offering this type of service are often working for or in conjunction with the website that published your arrest information in the first place.
A portion of the fee will probably be paid to the website in order to have the information removed and it will only be removed from that specific site. Some websites have what they call a courtesy removal service.
If you can prove that you were exonerated or never charged, your photo may be removed. Communication with the websites is a good first step, but keep in mind that they may not be eager to help.
Your state may have a law that requires mugshot websites to remove photos upon request. Typically, they must be taken down within 30 days of being contacted with the request, or they will be in violation of the law.
Georgia and Oregon are two states that currently have these laws, and we expect to see more states join their ranks shortly. Push for a larger crackdown on mugshot websites. Contact your state lawmakers and encourage them to create a law that will make it easier for you to manage your online reputation. Consult an attorney. Class action and individual lawsuits are pending against mugshot websites. You may be able to join or create your own case to remove the photo and possibly win damages.
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