Santa Clara University

In an article for Investor's Business Daily, Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson comments on the use of the Internet to publish information about wrongdoers:

"It's inevitable that we will be publishing much more government data online," Hanson said. "In general, it's a good thing."

Online publication of sex offenders' names and whereabouts help individuals protect themselves from convicted criminals, and such data have a social benefit, he says.

But posting online certain government data, such as arrest records, can open a can of worms, Hanson points out. If an arrest were posted, then at a minimum government would have the responsibility to publish the disposition of a case, he says.

"There are ethical issues because so much damage can be done by electronic publication of an arrest that doesn't lead to a conviction," Hanson said. "An electronic arrest record lives forever."

Government agencies have an ethical obligation to consider whether more harm than good results from putting certain data online, Hanson says.