Google Creates System to Eradicate Child Abuse Images
- 17 Jun
After recently receiving heavy criticism for not doing enough, Google announces it will create a new system to get rid of online child abuse images.
Pressure was on the company to do something about the problem after it emerged that men convicted of murdering Tia Sharp, aged 12, and April Jones, aged 5, had been viewing the indecent images online before hand.
The new system will use new technology to allow search engines to track images of children being raped and abused, so they can be immediately wiped in bulk from the internet and will be shared with all rival companies.
Article summary below, see full article at The Telegraph.
The new database, which is expected to be operational within a year, will allow child porn images which have already been "flagged" by child protection organisations such as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to be wiped from the web in one fell swoop.Google is also setting up a £1.27 million ($2 million) fund available to independent software developers to produce new tools to combat child pornography, it announced.
It comes after web search companies, including Google, have come under intense political pressure to crack down on child porn.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said last week he was "sickened" by material available online and told companies to stop making excuses.
Pressure on the web giants further intensified after it emerged Mark Bridger, who murdered five year-old April Jones, and Stuart Hazell, who murdered Tia Sharp, 12, were both found to have accessed indecent images of children on the web.
David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, said:
Since 2008, we have used ‘hashing' technology to tag known child sexual abuse images, allowing us to identify duplicate images which may exist elsewhere.
Each offending image in effect gets a unique fingerprint that our computers can recognize without humans having to view them again.
Recently, we have started working to incorporate these fingerprints into a cross-industry database. This will enable companies, law enforcement, and charities to better collaborate on detecting and removing child abuse images.Susie Hargreaves, chief executive officer of the IWF, which is part-funded by Google, said:
This announcement is inspiring for those who are at the forefront of tackling child sexual abuse content.
These funds, made available internationally, will no doubt allow international experts to target images and videos of children being sexually abused with the best technology based on the most technically progressive ideas.
Related articles
- 01 Jul
SCOTLAND AHEAD OF THE UK ON BUILDING NEW HOMES
SNP Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart said the following while commenting on Social Security and Equalities in the Scottish Parliament, SCN reports:"These figures demonstrate Scotland's strong...
- 23 Jun
HEALTHY DIETS FOR CARE HOMES
Joanna Cox, a manager of Chandos Lodge, said:"Food is a huge factor in our residents' lives and we want to ensure the meals we provide not only satisfy their tastes but benefit their health."Healthy...
- 16 Jun
DO HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES NEED INTEGRATION?
Although, many integration initiatives have been introduced across the NHS; For example, vanguard sites to the prime minister's Challenge Fund and integrated care pioneers- many involving GP...
- 15 Jun
LANDLORDS DIVIDED ON HOW TO VOTE IN EU REFERENDUM
The findings show that landlords are evenly split, with 35% intending to vote leave and 35% intending to vote to remain, reports Housing Excellence.According to Richard Lambert, the NLA's Chief...
- 10 Dec
Highest records of working families since 1996
Research has also shown that parents of young children, who were part of a couple, were almost twice as likely to be in a job. In comparison to older mothers, young mothers under 24 were only half as...
- 05 Dec
What percentage of people have mental disorders in the UK?
Percentage of adults suffering from common mental disorders:Prevalence of common mental disorders:Women (19.7%) are significantly more likely to experience common mental health disorders than men...
- 03 Dec
Safe Tweets, safe Twitter
Twitter is one of the most popular platforms where users across the globe collectively contribute 500 million Tweets every day. However, it can sometimes be inevitable that you come across content...
- 04 Jun
How Councils Can Improve Home Care
Read the full article at Community Care.Southwark council has agreed in principle to Unison's ethical home care charter and is working with local providers to find out how they could raise pay ...
- 31 May
Man Aged 83 is First Reported Assisted Suicide for Dementia
Reported @ BBC News | Health on 31/5/13He was assessed as mentally competent to make the decision at the centre in Switzerland, as he was only in the first stages of the disease.He did not want to...
- 28 May
Direct Payments to Private Landlords In Return for Regulation
Private rented housing: improving standards for all says that in return, they would receive benefits such as moving people for social housing in to the private sector, and housing benefits could be...
What are the Future Funding Arrangements for Supported and Sheltered Housing? "Information on Exempt Accommodation & DWP Review was very informative, but also commend your approach in delivering workshops/conferences in a proactive way, and use of email and your website as a public resource" P.C. - The Hyde Group
