The Child Protection System Catches Pedophiles
August 11, 2020
Child pornography plagues the Internet’s underbelly, the Dark Web, per-to-per sharing networks, and even simple Google search. Law enforcement officials want to protect children and stop the spread of child pornography, so a new software called Child Protection System was created. NBC News shares details in the article, “Inside the Surveillance Software Tracking Child Porn Offenders Across the Globe.”
The Child Protection System was designed by the Florida nonprofit Child Rescue Coalition. It is a forensic tool that scans file sharing networks and chatrooms to locate computers that download child pornography. It is programmed to search for over two hundred terms related to child sex abuse. These scans are then used as probable cause to gain search warrants. Child Protection System’s scans were used to arrest over 12,000 people. The software can search down to the county level and it also looks for images of children deemed twelve and under. It saves a lot of investigation time:
“ ‘The Child Protection System “has had a bigger effect for us than any tool anyone has ever created. It’s been huge,’ said Dennis Nicewander, assistant state attorney in Broward County, Florida, who has used the software to prosecute about 200 cases over the last decade. ‘They have made it so automated and simple that the guys are just sitting there waiting to be arrested.’ The Child Rescue Coalition gives its technology for free to law enforcement agencies, and it is used by about 8,500 investigators in all 50 states. It’s used in 95 other countries, including Canada, the U.K. and Brazil. Since 2010, the nonprofit has trained about 12,000 law enforcement investigators globally.”
The Child Rescue Coalition wants to partner with social media platforms, schools, and more in order to discover who is downloading child pornography. These platforms often contain information of people discussing suspicious behavior, but does not indicate criminal activities. If data from the Child Protection System and these platforms were cross-matched it might indicate possible bad actors.
Some assert that surveillance software is that it is breaking privacy laws. Handing over all this surveillance power to governments requires safeguards to protect individuals’ privacy.
Whitney Grace, August 11, 2020
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