Concerns raised on Ga. sex offender law

ATLANTA - Privacy advocates are questioning an aggressive Georgia law set to take effect tomorrow that would require sex offenders to hand over Internet passwords, screen names, and e-mail addresses.

Georgia joins a small band of states complying with guidelines in a 2006 federal law requiring authorities to track Internet addresses of sex offenders, but it is among the first to take the extra step of forcing its 16,000 offenders to turn in passwords.

A federal judge ruled in September that a similar law in Utah violated the privacy rights of an offender who challenged it, though the narrow ruling applied only to one offender.

No one in Georgia has challenged the law yet, but critics say it threatens the privacy of sex offenders.

"This essentially will give law enforcement the ability to read e-mails between family members, between employers," said Sara Totonchi of the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights.

State Senator Cecil Staton, a Republican from Macon who wrote the bill, said the measure is designed to keep the Internet safe for children.

ASSOCIATED PRESS