US lawmakers have cited the popular mobile game Pokémon Go as a potential danger, saying that paedophiles could use the app to find or lure victims.
An investigation by Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) spearheaded by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has found that some locations on the app are close to the homes of registered sex offenders.
A concerning feature of the app is that users can buy “lures” which attracts users to their area – something that paedophiles can take advantage of.
As a result, Cuomo has sought to ban sex offenders (3,000 of them) from playing the game.
“Protecting New York’s children is priority number one and, as technology evolves, we must ensure these advances don’t become new avenues for dangerous predators to prey on new victims,” Cuomo said.
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The new ban will enable parole officers to visit sex offenders and get them to sign an acknowledge of receipt of the new conditions that bar them from playing.
Parole officers will enforce it by making both announced and unannounced visits to the offenders’ home and workplace.
Cuomo has also asked to enlist the help of Niantic (the game developers) to work with DOCCS in keeping them from playing the game.
