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The Polish government says a new public online register with data on convicted paedophiles is a "breakthrough tool" to protect children.

Deputy Justice Minister Michal Wos said the register would enable parents to check if any paedophiles were living in their area.

Personal data on 768 paedophiles,

Critics say such open disclosure can make it harder for paedophiles to reintegrate into society after serving their sentence. It can also put them at risk of vigilante attacks, some argue.

The Polish register gives details of each paedophile's crimes and sentencing, date and place of birth, and home district.

Polish public broadcaster TVP says they are mainly paedophiles who have raped children aged under 15, some of whom acted with particular cruelty.

'Severe consequences'

It quoted Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro as saying sex offenders "must face very severe consequences - not only a long sentence, but also loss of anonymity".

. But the applicant will not necessarily get the data - the police decides whether to disclose it, and to whom, in each case.

In the US, Megan's Law gives people the right to find data about paedophiles by doing an internet search. Australia has a similar system.

US states vary in the amount of data they disclose about paedophiles online, but in many cases it is quite detailed.

, with rewards offered totalling thousands of dollars.

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