Local governments and police departments are very concerned with Pokemon Go. After police departments in several neighboring states issued guidelines to help ensure players catch ’em all safely, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Department of Corrections to ban all registered sex offenders from playing Pokemon Go and similar games.
“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,” Governor Cuomo said. “These actions will provide safeguards for the players of these augmented reality games and help take one more tool away from those seeking to do harm to our children.”
Cuomo, and other state legislators, were most concerned about Pokemon Go’s unfortunately-named “Lure” module:
Additionally, a feature of the game, where, for a small fee, a “lure” can be purchased to intentionally encourage traffic to a particular location, also appears to have the potential to be abused by predators.
This recommendation by Governor Cuomo most likely will lead to similar announcements by other local and state governments, and more information about the specifics of New York State’s plan can be found at NY.gov.
