By Larissa van Puyvelde, Minne De Boeck and Catherine McShane
Editors note: the PROTECH tool and
the consortium that produced it were funded by the EU Horizon 2020
The growth of technology, ease of access to the internet and the ability
to be anonymous online has fuelled the supply and demand for child sexual abuse images and videos online. Millions
of child sexual abuse images and videos are distributed on the internet every
year and these are only the ones that we know are reported by organisations
like the Internet Watch Foundation in the UK or the National Centre for Missing and
Exploited Children in the US.
The impact on survivors of child sexual abuse is horrific, as imagery of
their abuse can continue to circulate online long after they may have been
rescued and safeguarded. Survivors suffer repeated victimisation whenever the
record of their ordeal is shared and viewed. Traditional law enforcement
approaches struggle to cope with the volume and scale of the global problem.
New ways to tackle the complex issue urgently need to
be explored and, as part of the EU’s strategy for a more effective fight against
child sexual abuse, the EU has been funding several studies aimed at early
intervention.
One such project, Protech, regards the development, implementation and evaluation of a safety
tech tool to stop the viewing and distribution of child sexual abuse material
(CSAM). The intention is for it to be used as part of a prevention programme by people who are at risk of viewing
CSAM. The project is mid-way, and what follows are early insights into the project’s
progress so far.
To develop the tool, the Protech project has brought together experts from the European Union (Belgium, the
Netherlands, Germany and Ireland[i])
and the United Kingdom, from diverse backgrounds including criminology, public
health, clinical and forensic psychology, technology, child protection and
internet safety.
The aim is to create on-device technology in the form
of an app that aims to identify and prevent sexual abuse images of children
from reaching the screen of the user’s device and that displays blocking
messages warning of harmful content.
The design of the safety tech started with the 'for
and by' principle, which implies that the intended users would help inform how
the tech should be shaped, to ensure that the app could effectively support
them to stop their risky behaviour, and significantly reduce the viewing and
demand for sexual imagery of children on internet-connected devices.
To do this, the project team invited two cohorts of
participants to give input on how the technology should work and what was needed
to ensure that it would be used. The first group included 30 individuals at
self-reported risk of CSAM offending – those likely to want to view images and
videos of child sexual abuse. The second group consisted of service providers,
mainly therapists of CSAM users, who participated in focus groups.
All participants were asked to share their opinions
and concerns regarding four domains for the app’s development: privacy issues
(1), blocking functionality (2), potential interactivity (3) and possible
deployment methods (4).
The results show that privacy (domain 1) was a challenging
point, as most respondents indicated that they are concerned about the storing of
personal data, data security and the potential legal consequences. Hence,
sensitivity around privacy needed to be taken as a core point around which the
app was developed.
For domains 2 and 3, Protech researchers could not
find consensus among all responses. Overall, the results showed that every
respondent would like to personalize features of the app. This highlighted the
need to make the app customizable, for example, in terms of blocking messages
or implementing a pornography filter, because some respondents felt that access
to adult pornography would either help them control their impulses or perhaps make
them worse. Some felt that adding certain features such as a diary would be
helpful. Participants also advocated for access to FAQs relating to use of the
app, and an option to provide feedback to the developers.
Among the participants, there was no unanimity on how
best to download the app (domain 4). Some thought it would be easier to
download it through an official channel. Then again, others found anonymity
important. Through discussion with the app’s developers, it was decided to
offer the download link through an external portal, the most secure method for
deploying the app.
These findings created the first version of the app, called Salus. Salus is now ready to be tested in a pilot stage. During
this stage it will be assessed whether the app or similar technology and its
implementation, has the potential to be part of an effective prevention
programme. The app uses machine learning and conventional techniques (such as keyword
or URL matching for detecting known imagery of child sexual abuse) to block
CSAM from appearing on the screen of the user’s device.
The Protech project relies on voluntary participation
and participants will be able to make informed decisions during the entire
pilot to ensure transparency about functioning, onboarding and how to withdraw
from the app. There are, and always will be, methods by which users could circumvent
technology such as this but the important characteristic of the Protech target
group is that these will be individuals who want to take part, who want to get
help and who have volunteered to do so.
The three month pilot will be rolled out for up to 30-50
participants in a treatment programme and will consist of an intervention
group, which will effectively test the app. All participants will be sent a
survey at two different time points with questions regarding their wellbeing, their
(online viewing) behaviour and their opinions on the safety tech.
The final step of the project will draw on survey
findings and evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes of the pilot. Furthermore,
project partners will evaluate what has been achieved and learned as well as address
any questions regarding the technology, implementation and the pilot that
emerge because of the project.
If effective, the novel use of technology to help at-risk
individuals to control their viewing of CSAM could hopefully be used as a
blueprint for using safety tech for perpetrator prevention across the EU, but
it is by no means a silver bullet. Ideally any technology would need to be
implemented as part of a wide, holistic package of measures intended to help
prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation, further protecting victims and
alleviating the workload of law enforcement.
[i] The Protech project members are Charité –
Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Tilburg University; The Lucy Faithfull Foundation;
Offlimits/Stop it Now Netherlands; the University Forensic Center/ Stop it Now!
Flanders at University Hospital Antwerp/University of Antwerp; SafeToNet; the International
Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI) at Anglia Ruskin
University and the Internet Watch Foundation.
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