N.Y. parole authorities to bar sex offenders from ‘Pokémon Go’

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday directed state authorities to prevent nearly 3,000 registered sex offenders now on parole from playing “Pokémon Go” in an effort to safeguard children who play.

In a directive to soldiers and officers, the army warned that the game activates cell phone cameras and location services, and could leak sensitive information like army base locations and photographs of the bases.

In New York, the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Services is making the “Pokémon Go” ban a condition of supervised release from state prison for all sex offenders.

The Democratic governor has also sent a letter to San Francisco software developer Niantic requesting help prohibiting sexual predators from playing the online game, where players roam through the physical world searching for virtual Pokémon creatures.

New York law requires registered sex offenders to keep current home addresses, email accounts, screen names and other Internet identifiers with the Division of Criminal Justice Services, which maintains the publicly accessible online registry.