Taking full advantage of the digital age, District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. will next month start posting every arrest made in Allegheny County on his office Web site.

That may send shivers up the spine of citizens hauled in for, say, DUI or shoplifting, offenses that typically don't make the newspaper. But arrests for crimes against the public are public record, and the Internet is a neutral conduit whose value is to put more information in the hands of its users.

What society does with it, though, may be a matter for some education.

The head of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is opposed to putting the material on the Web because he believes knowledge of the arrests could harm an individual at work or in the community. Mr. Zappala, who launched the initiative with the support and urging of county Councilman Vince Gastgeb, correctly responded, however, that the accusations are part of the police blotter, which is open to public view under state and federal laws. What's more is his Web site, which will list the names of the arrested for three days, will remind viewers that all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Like the homeowners who initially blanched at seeing their property assessment on the county Web site (until they realized the value of seeing their neighbors'), some citizens will be squeamish knowing that their potential run-ins with the law will now get Internet display.

That doesn't mean, however, that every charge will become common knowledge or that every posting will trigger personal reprisals out of scale with the alleged offense. But those who appear on the DA's Web list will be accused of more than bad manners.

They will be charged by police with offenses against property and person under the laws of Pennsylvania. Today that is public information at the local police station. Next month, through a public service by the district attorney, the same record will be available through the convenience of the Internet.