A growing number of states are offering online databases of inmates and parolees, allowing citizens to check on convicted neighbors and employers to screen prospective hires.
But civil liberties groups say the Internet sites make it harder for ex-convicts to return to society.
'There always has been a desire to get criminal information online, and a history here of trying to balance those concerns,' said Ari Schwartz, policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington.
'It really brings up the issue of just because it's possible, is it desirable?'
Eighteen states now operate full Web sites where citizens can find the names, pictures, criminal records and sentences for current inmates and those on parole.
Some states include both federal and state records. The state of Washington offers neither.
Indiana plans to start one soon, and several other states offer limited databases for narrower prison populations such as sex offenders, death row inmates and fugitives.
Florida was one of the earliest, operating its site since 1997. Kentucky's is the most recent, opening its site this month. The Kentucky Offender Online Lookup site will soon carry the records of 22,500 inmates and parolees going back to 1978.
State officials say the information is on the public record and can contribute to public safety. And once a person finishes parole, his or her name is purged from the Web site.
'It gives the public, the press, law enforcement agencies and inmate relatives as well as victims immediate access to inmate information,' said C.J. Drake, spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
Statistics suggest the listings are popular. Florida's inmate and parolee sites recorded more than 2.2 million hits this month, Drake said. Proponents say the sites allow citizens to check whether any parolees live in their neighborhood or when a convicted neighbor is leaving prison. And employers can check if a prospective hire is on parole.
But critics say that while the information is useful for some, it can detract from another worthy goal: putting inmates on the right track after prison.
'You probably catch some' dangerous offenders, 'but you also do a lot of damage to people who are legitimately trying to make a new start and improve themselves,' said Larry Spalding, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union office in Tallahassee, Fla. 'When you've got the information on the Web, it's very difficult to get or keep a job,' he added.
William Stillwell of Oshkosh, Wis., a former federal inmate, said his prison record left him feeling 'blackballed' in society, making it difficult to find work or housing.
'I favor public information on those that present an abnormal risk to society,' said Stillwell, a former business owner who served several months in 1996 and 1997 in a Kentucky federal prison for wire fraud.
'However, a listing of everyone for everything for all times is an unreasonable extreme.'
Schwartz said courts have wrestled with privacy concerns in many situations, including sex offender registries. In each case, he said, there's a delicate balance between protecting privacy and protecting the flow of public information.
Placing some public records online, like bankruptcy documents, could open up those people to identity theft or bank fraud, Schwartz said. Former felons, too, could become victims.
'There's questions of why they would need some of this information, particularly the pictures,' he said. 'If they've been arrested for something, you could take advantage of their situation.'