A Combat Approach to Technology in Human Trafficking Prevention & Intervention

Here we expand on the emerging conversation on technology use in human trafficking prevention. New developments and innovations in technology provide promising results, however its application must be approached with ethical considerations.

Technology Use is a Double-Edged Sword

Disruptors in the human trafficking space wield the double-edged sword of technology use to ethically prevent human trafficking and protect survivors, but the technological tools at hand must be sharpened and these disruptors must hone their skills.

The use of the internet is now woven into nearly every facet of daily life; the average American has more access to information in their front pocket than the most knowledgeable innovators and scholars of past generations. Across different age groups, cultural backgrounds, and geographical locations, billions of users worldwide utilize the internet via social media, online banking services, and gaming platforms. Relationships and communities are formed entirely remotely without face-to-face interactions, while access and consumption of entertainment has never been more curated to individuals based on complex algorithms.

Unfortunately, the rise of a more interconnected global society has also facilitated the ability of organized crime and bad actors to identify and connect with their trafficking victims more easily using these same digital platforms and social networking sites.

Dual Nature of Technology

As anti-human trafficking organizations and law enforcement agencies continue to adopt new technological measures to identify and track survivors, the dual nature of technological advancements means bad actors also have more tools than ever to exploit human trafficking victims.

In the United States alone, 96% of American adults use the internet. Pew Research Center has documented the growth of the internet’s use over the past 20 years, and their reporting shows increased adoption through all age groups. Notably, young adults have continuously outpaced internet usage than their older peers and internet usage with their age group is effectively universal. Human traffickers simultaneously have increased their presence online to exploit young adults and children.

Human traffickers are strategic and organized; understanding their methods and mindset is crucial to the development of effective approaches to disrupt their enterprises. The same platforms used to connect with friends and loved ones are the same tools traffickers use to create illusory layers of security and protection to exploit their identified victims, often through fake identities and false promises.

Through analyses like the one performed in 2021 by the Polaris Project of data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, we know that the internet continues to be the top reported recruitment location of trafficking survivors.

To effectively wield this double-edged sword and outduel traffickers in the technological sphere, survivor-centered approaches and methodology, crafted through collaboration and ethical framing, is one answer to a complex issue.

Acknowledging the Issue

Stakeholders have researched on the dilemma to improve the incorporation of technology in prevention efforts in the effort to combat human trafficking over the years.

An example of these efforts includes the 2020 partnership between the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Tech Against Trafficking (TAT) in a shared paper that analyzed more than 300 technology initiatives through ethical consideration and data protection rights in technology. The paper produced general recommendations for governments and technology companies to strategically implement technology to disrupt trafficking enterprises.   

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2022 furthered the effort by making the theme of World Day Against Trafficking in Person the “Use and Abuse of Technology”. UNODC was able to elevate the issue to stakeholders globally by exemplifying and promoting the positive use of technology to combat trafficking by stakeholders.

These examples of private and intergovernmental organizations showcase collaboration through information and resource sharing to inform and educate stakeholders that the field is not only acknowledging the issue of technology, but educating stakeholders how to wield the double-edged sword for positive use within an ethical framework.

Ethical Considerations

Efforts to wield new technology to combat human trafficking must be rooted in strong ethical principles aimed to protect victims and survivors. These ethical principles are exemplified across the globe in different approaches, most formidably in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) passed by the European Union legislative bodies in 2016. Protecting data privacy as a human right, the GDPR provides extensive protections for user data while regulating its use by third parties and outside organizations, including bad actors within the human trafficking space. Click here to review the GDPR principles. 

Data privacy and protection are crucial first steps in the mission of ending modern-day slavery. Efforts to support survivors and assist in tracking victims require the collection of some of the most intimate details of a person’s life, and this information should be handled with stringent privacy standards.

Trust in a new technology begins at promoting transparency in how organizations gather, utilize, and protect this sensitive information. Transparency can take the form of a user agreement outlining how data is stored, stating who is using data and when data can be used, or include how information is uploaded. Establishing a published framework on the technology’s use and creation of strict guidelines on private information collection and protection will foster transparency.  

The protection of information such as location tracking, private direct messages, and case evidence materials (i.e. photographs, videos and other identifying factors) is essential. Creating a cybersecurity plan that embeds the use of sophisticated and trusted encryption and other safeguards helps ensure protection against the misuse of data by bad actors.  

The creation of these agreements, frameworks, and published security measures exemplifies ethical approaches in deploying new technologies because it allows users and the public to understand how this new tool can and will be used while also ensuring protection.

Remembering these considerations allows stakeholders in online spaces to implement new strategies with trusted and ethical approaches.    

Shaping Tools for Combat

To maximize the benefit of new technologies to combat human trafficking, the tools must not shape the strategy; rather, the tools must be shaped to an ethical and responsible strategy. This requires strategies grounded in survivor-centered information. 

In practice, prioritization of the safety and dignity of survivors, as well as policies designed to meet the actual needs of survivors – with real intent and firsthand knowledge – is crucial.

This individualistic approach retains agency for survivors and allows stakeholders to hold their autonomy in decision-making. Reliance on data without context in the effort to combat human trafficking is inadequate for victims and survivors. Even with the most cutting-edge technology, these tools must be curated for the individual circumstances of every victim and every survivor.

The same way private businesses aim to protect the personal information of employees and customers is applicable in how we should shape our digital tools. Embedded into these frameworks and guidelines are standard protections and what their fields call “good practices”. In the United States, federal law takes a sectoral approach to data privacy unlike the GDPR which employs a top-down approach to security. Although the U.S. approach leaves gaps in enforcement and does not support a clear one policy solution, the good practices promoted by regulatory agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provide foundational and adaptable resources to incorporate an ethical approach in technology use to combat human trafficking. This foundation allows stakeholders to embed other principles like survivor-centered approaches and maintain autonomy. Below are the five key principles promoted by the FTC for best-practice guidance in formulating a sound data security plan:

1.     Take Stock – Become familiar with the information in your files and on your computers.

2.     Scale Down – Only keep the data you need for your business.

3.     Lock It – Protect the data you keep. 

4.     Pitch It – Properly dispose of the data you no longer need.

5.     Plan Ahead – Create response plans to security incidents.  

(We will release a comparative study in a separate post on US data privacy laws compared to the EU and their impacts on trafficking and prevention.)

While broadly outlining good practices, these principles promote responsibility and regular assessments. Building off these principles, stakeholders can formulate an ethical framework that instills regular attentiveness, regular review, and preemptive response. This is how we shape the tools, by curating our plans to the individual approach.

As technology becomes more advanced, ethical governance must also advance with it. Incorporating existing guidance by agencies into a foundational framework allows for adaptive use and natural evolution that will incorporate advancements in technology.

Artificial Intelligence’s Role in Combat

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to synthesize data, aggregate information, and produce real-time results in monitoring and intervention efforts. At the same time, it can be weaponized by criminals to advance their grooming tactics through language translation, AI-generated images/videos, voice generation, and myriad other uses. This dual use requires the construction of an ethical AI framework to promote its innovation in prevention efforts.   

(Specific applications for AI technologies in recruitment and prevention are further discussed in another post.)

The 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report published by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons demonstrates the potential for AI to detect trafficking patterns, educate potential victims, and flag inappropriate content online. It also recognizes the negative use of AI by bad actors. To address the benefits and risks of AI, the report calls for collaboration among technology companies, law enforcement, and anti-trafficking experts with survivor-based approaches.

This emphasis is present in the recently published findings by Tech Against Trafficking (TAT) that highlight the increased use of technology in trafficking prevention. TAT, a coalition of leading technology companies, found a growing role for AI-driven solutions in analytics and automated monitoring in the field. But with this growing role, the coalition of private entities found that access and transparency in technology use lags. The organization highlights this finding as a sign to promote greater transparency in tool ownership, usage rights, and data management.

Reviewed together, these reports show the emerging concern across public and private efforts in the insufficient level of collaboration, transparency, and planning between government entities and technology companies in prevention. To develop the role of AI use in these efforts, these organizations must work together to build an ethical approach – similarly to the frameworks needed for other technology. Promoting AI’s use in prevention will result in expanding its application and spur its innovation, but its use must be framed within the themes promoted by public and private organizations of collaboration, transparency, and human-centered approaches.

Conclusion

It is imperative that the double-edged sword of technology use is wielded to ethically prevent and intervene in human trafficking activities and to protect survivors. Rooting technology with survivor-centered approaches, crafted with collaboration and ethical design, is essential in the fight. The above-referenced 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report shows a pathway forward. The successful use of technological tools used to combat human trafficking is determined by its approach and design. Through an ethical lens, focused on individual victims and survivors, government and non-government warriors alike are better equipped to support survivors and ethically intervene in real-time.

If you believe you have information about a trafficking situation, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1.

Stay connected to our blog to learn more about the use of AI in its relation to trafficking, our comparative study on legal digital protections in the United States and the European Union, and information on other emerging topics in the fight against human trafficking.