by Angela Guess
Hannah Augur reports in Dataconomy.com, “Finding missing children and unraveling the complex web of human trafficking is no easy task. The relevant datasets are massive and often unstandardized. It can be difficult to find the right data at all, as it often disappears from websites and pages on a regular basis. When data is hard enough for scientists to capture and evaluate, how can law enforcement agencies even begin to get a handle on it? These agencies, with little funding or know-how, need real help if they want to leverage big data and get a grip on human trafficking. Many efforts to solve crimes with data [are] actually coming from outside the law department. From community efforts to non-profits and even full business solutions, it seems the world of data science is actively using their skills for good. More importantly, these data solutions are in stark contrast to the more general and vague job of crime prediction, which is becoming more and more common. Many departments already use data to target trouble areas, but for those crimes that involve huge rings and layers of corruption, there’s a lot more work to be done.”
Augur goes on, “The companies using data science to stop human trafficking often use several methods and mimic what regular law enforcement agencies might do on their own. The ‘Science Against Slavery’ Hackathon, was an all-day Hackathon aimed sharing ideas and creating science-based solutions to the problem of human trafficking. Data scientists, students and hackers honed in on data that district attorneys would otherwise never find. Many focused on automating processes so agencies could use the technology with little guidance. Some focused primarily on generating data that could lead to a conviction—which is much easier said than done. One effort from EPIK Project founder Tom Perez included creating fake listings. They could then gather information on respondents, including real world coordinates. Other plans compared photos mined from escort ads and sites to those from missing person reports.”
Photo credit: Flickr/ Ira Gelb