Episode 878: Mugshots For Sale

By Karen Duffin,

Nick Fountain

Published November 23, 2018 at 1:58 PM EST

If you are one of the more than 70 million people who've been arrested in America, you probably have a mugshot. Websites have turned these mugshots into a business, posting mugshots and charging people to take them down.

If they don't pay up, the mugshot can make it hard to get jobs, dates, housing, even if they were never actually charged or convicted. Some people call it extortion. The websites call it a public service.

Today on the show, we go deep inside the online mugshot industry, where the First Amendment and our right to privacy clash in really complicated ways.

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Karen Duffin

Karen Duffin (she/her) is a co-host and reporter for Planet Money, NPR's award-winning podcast that finds creative, entertaining ways to make sense of the big, complicated forces that move our economy. She joined the team in March 2018.

See stories by Karen Duffin

Nick Fountain

Nick Fountain produces and reports for Planet Money. Since he joined the team in 2015, he's reported stories on pears, black pepper, ice cream, chicken, and hot dogs (twice). Come to think of it, he reports on food a whole lot. But he's also driven the world's longest yard sale, uncovered the secretive group that controls international mail, and told the story of a crazy patent scheme that involved an acting Attorney General.

See stories by Nick Fountain