Privacy, victims and people in the record

Mapping crime means touching real people who did not choose to be on a map. This is how we handle that.

Last updated: 5 August 2026

An app that maps crime to places is an app that touches real people who did not choose to be on a map. This page sets out how we handle that, because it is the part of the product that deserves the most care.

The principle we work from. A documented case is a record of an event, not a permanent label on a person. Records age, outcomes change, and people have rights that survive the reporting. We build accordingly.

Victims

Victims are not the subject of CrimeLens. As a rule we do not name them, and we do not reproduce details of harm that serve curiosity rather than understanding.

Where a case is publicly known by a victim's name because that is how the record itself refers to it, we follow the record — but we do not add detail, imagery or narrative beyond what identification requires.

People who were never convicted

This is where most crime content fails, and where we try hardest not to.

Arrest is not guilt. An entry about an open case says it is open, and names no one the record does not name.
Acquittals are part of the record. If someone was cleared, the entry reflects it — and on request, we will remove the entry entirely.
Overturned convictions are treated the same way.
Charges dropped means the entry is corrected or removed, not left hanging.

Minors

Where identification of a minor is restricted, the case is excluded. We do not work around reporting restrictions, and we do not include material that would identify a minor indirectly.

The right to be forgotten

People have a recognised right, in a number of jurisdictions, to have personal information about them delisted or removed once it is no longer relevant or proportionate — particularly where a conviction is spent or an accusation came to nothing.

We do not treat that right as an inconvenience to be litigated. If you are named in an entry and believe it should no longer be surfaced, write to us. We would rather remove a defensible entry than keep an unfair one.

Your privacy as a user

The other side of this: what the app knows about you.

Location is used to show nearby cases. What is collected, and for how long, is set out in the privacy policy.
We do not sell user data.
Searching a case does not create a public record of your having searched it.

What we ask of you

CrimeLens is not a background check tool. Using it to screen a neighbour, a tenant, a date or an employee is outside the purpose of the app and outside our terms. It is also, in many places, unlawful. The map exists to make public record legible, not to follow people around.

Frequently asked questions

Do you name victims?

Not as a rule. Victims are not the subject of the map, and naming them serves no purpose the record does not already serve.

Do you name people who were acquitted?

We follow the outcome in the record. Where someone was acquitted or a conviction was overturned, that is what the entry reflects, and we will remove an entry on request in those circumstances.

Can I ask for my name to be removed?

Yes. Write to us through the corrections process. Requests involving acquittals, spent convictions or minors are treated as a priority.

Does CrimeLens track my location?

The app uses your location to show nearby cases. See the privacy policy for exactly what is collected and how long it is kept.

Keep reading

Corrections and removalsHow to have an entry fixed or taken down. Editorial standardsThe rules that decide what appears at all.

See the record for yourself.
Open the map, find the documented cases near you, and follow every one straight to its original source.

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