Who Owns Mugshots.zone? Investigating Ownership, Data Practices, and Legal Loopholes (2025 Report)

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

The Rise of Mugshots.zone

In an age where your online presence can define personal and professional relationships, mugshot websites like Mugshots.zone have created an ecosystem that profits from exposing past arrest records.

Mugshots.zone is one of the many online platforms aggregating arrest photos and booking details from publicly available databases, often ranking high in Google search results for a person’s name. But questions about its ownership, purpose, and legality have grown increasingly urgent.

This post pulls back the curtain to reveal who owns Mugshots.zone, what data practices they employ, the ethical and legal implications, and most importantly, how Remove Arrest can help protect your privacy.

Who Owns Mugshots.zone?

Tracking ownership of mugshot domains is notoriously difficult—and Mugshots.zone is no exception.

According to WHOIS records and internet domain archives, the website was registered through Namecheap, Inc., using privacy protection services to conceal the real owner’s identity. The domain was created in 2022, making it a relatively recent entrant into the mugshot publishing space.

Common patterns in mugshot site ownership include:

• Use of offshore LLCs (St. Kitts, Nevis, Seychelles, Belize)
• Shell company structures
• Registration through ICANN-compliant anonymization services
• Hosting through cloud services with foreign IP addresses
• Frequent DNS and registrar switching to evade takedowns

This cloak of anonymity makes it nearly impossible to tie the domain to a physical business or individual. This is often done intentionally to avoid U.S. lawsuits, cease and desist letters, or regulatory pressure.

“You won’t find a LinkedIn page or business address. These sites are designed to be faceless and lawsuit-resistant.”

Moreover, the operators may manage multiple similar websites under different domain names, IP ranges, or pseudonyms to create redundancy and continue profiting even when individual domains face public backlash.

How Mugshots.zone Collects and Publishes Your Information

Mugshots.zone aggregates and republishes mugshots and arrest data from public sources, often within hours of the booking event. It primarily pulls data from:

• County sheriff department websites
• Police department jail rosters
• State criminal databases

Scraping Automation Example

# Simplified pseudocode
for jail_site in jail_websites:
    html = fetch_html(jail_site)
    records = parse_arrest_data(html)
    for record in records:
        mugshots_zone_db.insert(record)

Some scraped data may include:

• Full legal name
• Date of arrest
• Charges
• Bond information
• Booking photo (mugshot)
• Arresting agency
• Court case numbers (sometimes linked)

This process uses web crawlers or bots that can index and archive thousands of mugshots per day, making it difficult for individuals to control their exposure. Once uploaded to Mugshots.zone, the data is indexed by search engines, making it accessible to anyone Googling your name.

Lack of Context is Common

Mugshots.zone often fails to include critical updates about the legal case, such as:

• Dismissals or dropped charges
• Acquittals
• Expungements or sealed records
• Innocent verdicts

This lack of context contributes to public shaming, regardless of legal outcomes, and further damages the individual’s reputation.

The Legal Grey Zone: Is Mugshots.zone Breaking the Law?

Mugshots.zone claims to operate within the bounds of the law by publishing information considered part of the public record. However, several states have passed legislation restricting the commercial use of mugshot data.

State-Level Crackdowns

Some states that have passed laws against mugshot exploitation include:

• California: Prohibits payment-based removal services for arrest data
• Florida: Mandates free removal for expunged/dropped charges
• Oregon: Limits the reuse of mugshots for commercial profit
• Georgia: Requires automatic removal if charges were dropped
• Illinois: Imposes fines for websites monetizing mugshots
• Texas: Requires mugshot sites to promptly remove outdated or incorrect arrest data upon notice

Despite these regulations, Mugshots.zone may still legally publish this information by:

• Hosting offshore in jurisdictions with weak privacy or defamation laws
• Using anonymous domain registration tools like WhoisGuard or Domain Proxy
• Ignoring state-specific takedown requests, relying instead on federal inaction

“Legal? Yes. Ethical? Not necessarily.”

Additionally, because arrest data is considered public information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other transparency laws, there is a tension between transparency and exploitation.

The Business Behind the Domain

Though the public sees a simple mugshot page, behind the scenes, Mugshots.zone monetizes traffic using several revenue streams:

• Display ads from ad networks (e.g., Google AdSense alternatives)
• Referral traffic to third-party mugshot removal services
• Affiliate programs tied to paid background check providers
• Traffic reselling to identity verification or data mining firms

The business model incentivizes:

1. Publishing high volumes of arrest data
2. Optimizing for search engine traffic
3. Keeping entries online as long as possible
4. Redirecting victims to paid removal schemes

Because the site relies on user curiosity and controversy, it experiences a steady stream of pageviews. This makes each listed individual not just a victim, but a traffic-generating asset.

Attempts to Remove Your Information from Mugshots.zone

Opt-Out Process (If Available)

Mugshots.zone has no clearly posted opt-out policy as of 2025. If there is one, it typically involves:

1. Submitting identification documents
2. Proving case dismissal, expungement, or sealing
3. Waiting up to 30 days for review

Risks of this method include:

• Resurfacing on the site due to scraping bots
• Sharing sensitive documents with unknown third parties
• Delayed or ignored requests
• Data being resold or leaked to other mugshot platforms

Victims Have Reported:

• Reappearance of removed entries
• Inconsistent or no communication from site administrators
• Blackmail-like payment demands from “partner” sites

This leads many to seek professional help in the form of reputation management or legal advocacy services.

How Remove Arrest Solves the Mugshot Problem

If you’re featured on Mugshots.zone, Remove Arrest provides comprehensive solutions that go beyond just takedown requests:

• Legal correspondence with registrars and hosts
• Search engine suppression for harmful URLs
• Creation of positive personal content to outrank mugshots
• Long-term monitoring to prevent reappearance
• Coordination with attorneys for court-ordered removals

“With Remove Arrest, your privacy isn’t just protected—it’s actively restored.”

Schedule your free case review with Remove Arrest to begin your removal journey today.

Long-Term Strategies to Protect Your Online Identity

Don’t wait for a mugshot to appear. Proactive steps can shield your reputation:

• Google yourself regularly
• Claim online profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, About.me
• Register your personal domain (e.g., JohnDoe.com)
• Post positive press releases and blogs
• Set up Google Alerts for your name
• Monitor mugshot websites for re-indexing

Build a Positive Online Presence

• Publish guest articles on relevant websites
• Submit profiles to local business directories
• Use schema markup on your personal site to control how Google displays your bio

FAQ: Mugshots.zone Ownership, Legality & Removal

MLA-Formatted Works Cited

“Public Records Publishing and the Ethics of Online Mugshots.” Harvard Law Review, 2023.
“Mugshot Websites: Legal Overview and State Legislation.” National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024.
“Internet Scraping and the Public Record Loophole.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2022.
“WHOIS Lookup for Mugshots.zone.” ICANN WHOIS Database, Accessed 2025.