Technology Tools

Giving law enforcement the tools it needs to fight child sexual exploitation

The Internet has changed the way we work and play. It has changed the way we conduct our business and how we live our social lives. It also has changed things for those who seek to exploit children.

“The cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector is absolutely necessary, especially in the area of child sexual exploitation.”Troels Oerting, Former Head of the European Cybercrime Center (C3), Europol

To fight this – and to better protect children – law enforcement professionals need tools that are just as powerful as those available to criminals.

Why are technology tools for law enforcement important?

The sheer volume of child pornography images (photos and videos) seized by law enforcement on an annual basis is staggering. Manually searching this mountain of illegal material is impossible.

What are some of the tools available to law enforcement?

We have partnered with prominent technology companies in a collaborative venture to equip law enforcement professionals with the tools they need to combat child exploitation. In addition to facilitating the transfer of these technologies to law enforcement free-of-charge, we also provide training to those using the tools.

Here is a snapshot of the technologies.

PhotoDNA – Microsoft

Together with Dartmouth College, Microsoft developed PhotoDNA, an innovative tool that compiles a digital signature or fingerprint of images (known as a “hash”), which can be matched against a database of known child pornography images. This significantly reduces the time law enforcement officers must spend viewing images, speeding their determination of whether child victims have already been identified or are currently at risk.

F1 – Friend MTS

Friend MTS (Media Technology Systems) developed and customized F1, a technology that generates unique hashes of child pornography videos. Law enforcement personnel use the hashes created by F1 to more quickly identify copies, even partial copies, within the material they have confiscated. They are then able to compare them to child pornography images on file in a cloud-based database, saving valuable time.

In 2014, Friend MTS donated F1 to us for distribution to law enforcement and software providers.

Griffeye Analyze DI – Safer Society Group

The Safer Society Group created Griffeye Analyze DI as a platform to support digital media investigations and streamline the process of reviewing images of child pornography.

In 2015, the Safer Society Group donated Griffeye Analyze DI to us, enhancing our state-of-the-art technology portfolio and further contributing to the fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation.