Tech Startup Helping Cops Track Sex Workers Online

[escapefromstress]

"Big data" and "sex trafficking." That it took so long for someone to combine these buzz terms into one money-making venture is just one of several mysteries surrounding Rescue Forensics, a new startup.

The "big" in the Memphis-based company? Rescue Forensics claims it "archives massive quantities of data from classified advertisement sites specializing in commercial sex ads." It gathers a lot of text, and even more nude and semi-nude photos. Then it turns all that over to the cops.

Rescue Forensics has said it's "making it harder for bad guys to hide on the internet." And while it's hard to quantify that claim, the company certainly achieved some success in attracting investors: Paul Graham's influential Y Combinator incubator selected Rescue Forensics for funding, after which TechCrunch dubbed the service the "software [that] eats sex trafficking." With Rescue Forensics, users can "#tracethetraffickers," as one of its own Facebook memes puts it.

From what I could learn, though, what Rescue Forensics appears to be selling is just one more tool to help cops track people engaged in sex work through their online activities.

Rescue Forensics purports to have brought on more than 100 law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (A spokesperson for one segment of DHS—Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE—said that as far as they could tell, they aren't using the software, while the FBI refused to comment on investigations.)

https://www.vice.com/read/this-tech-startup-is-helping-the-cops-track-sex-workers-online-417

 

[Lo-ki]

Scary stuff....

 

[escapefromstress]

Scary stuff....

yes ...

Yep. Stay tuned for multiple arrests of Brazilian supermodels all across Coquitlam....

BD

and yes ... lol

 

[escapefromstress]

From the Rescue Forensics FAQ page:

Rescue Forensics is a human trafficking intelligence and forensic platform that archives massive amounts of open source intelligence collected from personal classifieds websites that offer ads involving prostitution, a subset of which includes ads offering sex trafficking victims. Rescue Forensics procures publicly available information and makes it accessible to law enforcement for identifying, targeting, investigating, and prosecuting sex traffickers.

“Big Data” is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand data management tools or traditional data processing applications. For example, escort websites host millions of advertisements potentially involving commercial sex or sex trafficking, but it is nearly impossible to draw patterns and make connections the data because of the extremely large quantity of advertisements. Rescue Forensics is an intelligence platform that uses big data to establish connections for human trafficking investigators that cannot be detected using conventional search methods.

On most escort websites the advertisements disappear after a few days. Unless this information is retrieved and archived for future investigations, possible evidence may disappear completely. For instance, a Google search may reveal current advertisements for a particular escort, but Rescue Forensics is able to display every archived advertisement posted within search parameters queried by the investigator as far back as two years. Historical data can go back as far as two years with Rescue Forensics, while most hosting websites subpoena responses only offer 90 days of historical data.

 

[westwoody]

Pathetic and annoying that they consider every woman advertising to be an exploited victim.

But hey, there's lots of money to be made in the new era of paranoia and puritanism. It's like all the progress in civil rights has disappeared and we're back in the fifties.

 

[P3t3rp4n]

This would never come to Canada LOL we don't have the infrastructure to support a 24/7 sky train let a lone a cyber hooker busting squad. Google spiders already archive everything on the net within weeks.

 

[escapefromstress]

This would never come to Canada LOL we don't have the infrastructure to support a 24/7 sky train let a lone a cyber hooker busting squad. Google spiders already archive everything on the net within weeks.

What would prevent a Canadian law enforcement agency from hiring an American company like this?

 

[westcoast555]

What would prevent a Canadian law enforcement agency from hiring an American company like this?

Canadians aren't as fucked up in the head about sex as Americans... the cops know all about the nasty coercive survival sex junkie side of the sex trade and are already working on a harm reduction approach.

They're not going to waste time on bullshit like this... I'm not a huge fan of cops but as far as Vancouver goes they have their head on pretty straight when it comes to the sex trade.

 

[P3t3rp4n]

Shame for the states I love going across the border and seeing escorts. Great times all around, was better when the dollar was higher. Guess I'll have to stick to Canadian girls eh