A recent case came out of the 10th Circuit which described AOL’s (the Internet Service Provider) ability to scan digital images and detect which ones are illegal pornography based on a “hash value.”
The court described it as follows, “AOL’s automated filter works by identifying the hash value of images attached to emails sent through it’s mail servers. Those values are then compared to the hash values of images that AOL employees have viewed previously and deemed child pornography. Any email containing an image with a matching has value is automatically weeded out.”
The natural question that comes to mind is why, if AOL has this technology, is it not being used to scan the servers of all ISPs in order to remove the offending content proactively instead of using it as a tool to catch people?
Clearly, if AOL has the ability to find these images based on their digital fingerprint, other ISPs, such as Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner, CenturyLink, Charter, Verizon, Cox… which have all outgrown AOL, have the same ability. How can the government not?
If the technology were used to identify and wipe the content from servers it would help stop the spread of the content. We all understand that prison is a huge industry and using this tool instead for catching the low hanging fruit is more profitable, but isn’t the ability to prevent the re-victimization of those in the images an equally important objective?
This is a question that should be sent to every media outlet in the country!
Yeah they do not care – the FBI even distributed CP just to catch people
Well I have to call bs on this one. My crime consist of CP and I was sent 3 photos from a 17 yo girl that thought I wanted to see her. She was a friend of my daughters and thought there was more there. Just because she sent me 3 photos attached to a email thru AOL. I am screwed for life. They searched my phone and computer and there was no record of me asking for them. They clearly saw they were deleted right away. So AOL clearly don’t stop images from passing thru. Have a nice day!
You would think it would be priority one, especially when the argument used by Prosecutors and legislators alike talk about how the proliferation of these images on the web are damaging and victimize. “The FACTS are clear, 93+% of victims are not being served by current policies. In fact they ignore the victims of child pornography who endure knowing their images are out there and the government has done nothing to truly prevent there circulation to continue, when the tools are available.
How many times must we bring these things to their attention?
There is much more to this topic that needs to come to public awareness. The technology that you reference is called Mircosoft PhotoDNA. It has been available in the latest version since 2015. The program was developed for use by the government. Here is the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoDNA
Robert – if you can dig into this and share your findings with Gail ([email protected]), this is something she will be bringing to the legislators.
If there is a way to dramatically reduce the volume of this stuff out there, the number of arrests for it will come down. The government doesn’t care about that, naturally, but the victims contained in the images probably do and if the argument is that every time an image is shared the individual depicted is re victimized, the governments’ unwillingness to put effort into the removal is criminal.
wow, you would think at the very least that the state/feds would use this on there own mail servers as it could stop government employees from downloading images accidently or on purpose but then again the gov. needs to pay there friends/relatives to sit at a computer all day long trying to catch people with incorrect images.
That last sentence is very telling. Because that is EXACTLY what will be preached to you in “therapy” after you’ve been “caught.” You are told that you are victimizing that person in the picture every time you look at it. But the detectives, I guess, love re-victimizing that person because they use those same pictures time and time again in sting after sting after sting. Like it was said, prison is a huge industry leaning on exploiting innocent suspecting people and ruining theirs, and their families lives forever. Disgusting. We live in a disgusting country overtaken by greed and corruption and God will judge it very soon.
MJ, I agree with you on that point. Apparently, AOL had this technology back in 2005 when an acquaintance of mine was entrapped with an image in his email. AOL, unbeknownst to him, promptly reported him to DHS/ICE. America’s war on CP is much like its war on drugs, the end users are the only ones filling the prisons while the providers, who are known to law enforcement, continue to distribute their poison.