The Rise of Mobile and the Diffusion of Technology-Facilitated Trafficking

In this report, researchers at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) reveal how those involved in human trafficking have been quick to adapt to the 21st-century global landscape. While the rapid diffusion of digital technologies such as mobile phones, social networking sites, and the Internet has provided significant benefits to society, new channels and opportunities for exploitation have also emerged. Increasingly, the business of human trafficking is taking place online and over mobile phones. But the same technologies that are being used for trafficking can become a powerful tool to combat trafficking. The precise role that digital technologies play in human trafficking still remains unclear, however, and a closer examination of the phenomenon is vital to identify and respond to new threats and opportunities.This investigation indicates that mobile devices and networks have risen in prominence and are now of central importance to the sex trafficking of minors in the United States. While online platforms such as online classifieds and social networking sites remain a potential venue for exploitation, this research suggests that technology facilitated trafficking is more diffuse and adaptive than initially thought. This report presents a review of current literature, trends, and policies; primary research based on mobile phone data collected from online classified sites; a series of firsthand interviews with law enforcement; and key recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders moving forward

The impact of social media on elections: Disinformation and micro-targeting advertising in the 2019 EU Elections

In 2018, the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica case raised serious concerns on the impact of data protection infringements on electoral processes, both in the 2016 US presidential elections, and in the 2017 UK general elections. The EU seems to have rapidly reacted after this case to adapt its own legislation to this new threat to democracy, especially with the application of the data protection regulation GDPR. This article focuses on two worrying effects of the digital platforms in the electoral context: the viral proliferation of fake news (disinformation), and the unlawful use of citizens’ personal data to target specific groups of strategic voters (micro-targeting and profiling). This article concludes that the EU chose the co-regulation approach which seems to be the best way, if better supervised (detecting and swamping fake news with other sources of information): the legislative and coercive approach seems to be counterproductive as it could reinforce the auto-persuasion power of fake news. This paper then focuses on the specific application of the European GDPR in the electoral context and concludes that it was partially successful during the last elections for the European Parliament in May 2019. Finally, this article highlights the bureaucratic approach of the European strategy, evaluates the difficulties to applicate it in a new digital economy, and concludes that it is important to continue developing other types of non-legislative measures to combat the disinformation phenomenon, such as fact-checking education at school, and a better collaboration between public authorities, digital industry, and society

Contactless, Crypto, and Cash: Laundering Illicit Profits in the Age of COVID-19

Travel restrictions and lockdowns have forced changes to the traditional means illicit groups have used to launder their ill-gotten profits. This paper explores whether COVID-19 may have affected these processes through three main channels: increased reliance on cryptocurrencies to move and launder funds tied to illicit activity; the expanded use of the internet through e-commerce sites to continue and expand trade mispricing practices to move illicit funds; and the use of FinTech and peer-to-peer payment services to transfer illicit funds.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/jgi_research/1047/thumbnail.jp

A systematic survey of online data mining technology intended for law enforcement

As an increasing amount of crime takes on a digital aspect, law enforcement bodies must tackle an online environment generating huge volumes of data. With manual inspections becoming increasingly infeasible, law enforcement bodies are optimising online investigations through data-mining technologies. Such technologies must be well designed and rigorously grounded, yet no survey of the online data-mining literature exists which examines their techniques, applications and rigour. This article remedies this gap through a systematic mapping study describing online data-mining literature which visibly targets law enforcement applications, using evidence-based practices in survey making to produce a replicable analysis which can be methodologically examined for deficiencies

2016 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

[Excerpt] This month, we release the 16th edition of the annual Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, a report born from the idea that trade should be fairer for all. Mandated by the Trade and Development Act of 2000 (TDA), which expanded eligibility criteria for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, this report shines a spotlight on specific sectors in which child labor, including forced labor and trafficking, persists, and describes the progress some countries have made in upholding their international commitments to eliminate these practices. The report offers recommendations to address these injustices and protect children through improved laws, policies, and practices. Unfortunately, the report also demonstrates how much work is needed to end child labor. This report provides specific, actionable information to the governments of GSP-beneficiary countries regarding how best to combat labor abuses. Companies also use the report as a critical input into risk assessments, to conduct due diligence on their supply chains, and to develop strategies to address the problem. Our own federal government agencies use the report to safeguard federal procurement by informing procurement officers of risks in sourcing products and services. DOL uses this report to reveal hidden exploitation and partner with countries working to end labor abuses. Through these partnerships, we have rescued and provided educational opportunities to nearly two million children, helped almost 170,000 families meet their basic needs without relying on child labor, and contributed to reducing child labor by more than 94 million worldwide. This month, we are releasing an updated version of our Sweat & Toil app, which puts more than 1,000 pages of this report and other DOL research on child labor and forced labor in the palm of your hand

Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism: A Survey

Policy programs on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) have largely called for preventive measures like keeping record of financial transactions and reporting suspicious ones. In this survey study, we analyze the extent of global money laundering and terrorist financing and discuss the preventive policies and their evaluations. Moreover, we investigate whether more effective tax information exchange would bolster AML/CFT policies in that it reduced tax evasion, thus the volume of transnational financial flows (i.e. to and from offshore financial centres) and thus in turn cover given to money laundering and terrorist financing. We conclude that such a strategy can reduce financial flows, yet due to a "weakest link problem" even a few countries not participating can greatly undo what others have achieved

2015 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

[Excerpt] This report focuses on the worst forms of child labor. The definition of the “worst forms of child labor” is found in the TDA and is the same as that included in ILO C. 182. It includes (a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale or trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, or forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; (b) the use, procuring, or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography, or for pornographic purposes; (c) the use, procuring, or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs; and (d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children.(6) Similar to ILO C. 182, the TDA states that the work described in subparagraph (d) should be “determined by the laws, regulations, or competent authority of the country involved.

Share and Share Alike : The challenges from social media for Intellectual Property Rights

Dennis Collopy, 'Share and Share Alike: The challenges from social media for Intellectual Property Rights', report commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office, published September 2017, under the Open Government License https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/. The published version is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/share-and-share-alike. © Crown Copyright 2017.The report was commissioned to estimate recent levels of counterfeiting within the UK. To understand the extent to which this is moving online, and gauge how it is helped to do so by social media platforms. The study aimed to assess the scale, impact and characteristics of infringements. This covers six sectors: alcohol, cigarettes, clothing, footwear, perfume and watches