Hearing Wrap Up: Technology Can Help Law Enforcement Identify and Protect Human Trafficking Victims
United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
WASHINGTON — On December 10, 2025, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation convened a hearing titled “Using Modern Tools to Counter Human Trafficking.” The hearing focused on the dual role of technology: as a tool traffickers exploit to victimize individuals, and as a powerful resource for law enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations in identifying and protecting human trafficking victims.
Exploiting Technology to Exploit Victims
The hearing opened with testimony acknowledging how traffickers have adapted to the digital age. Megan Lundstrom, Chief Executive Officer of Polaris, highlighted that whereas traffickers once operated in physical locations such as gas stations and bus stops, today’s traffickers leverage "algorithmic targeting apps and digital wallets" to find and exploit victims. She stressed that while technology evolves rapidly, traffickers remain opportunists who adopt new tools faster than protective systems can keep pace.
Melissa Snow, Executive Director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), reiterated that human trafficking, especially child sex trafficking, is increasingly a technology-facilitated crime. Snow noted that traffickers and buyers utilize unregulated, anonymous spaces on the internet, including social media, gaming platforms, and publicly accessible escort and dating websites, to groom and exploit children. This highlights a significant challenge for law enforcement in monitoring and regulating these online environments.
Harnessing Technology to Combat Trafficking
Despite the challenges, experts also detailed how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are being wielded to fight trafficking. Lundstrom explained that with survivor input, Polaris has developed a causal AI model which identifies structural drivers of trafficking, such as child poverty. This tool allows policymakers to simulate how interventions—for example, childcare tax credits—could reduce vulnerabilities before exploitation occurs.
Melissa Snow described innovative tools such as Traffic Cam and Traffic Jam developed by NCMEC and partners. Traffic Cam enables investigators to identify specific hotel rooms where child sex trafficking victims have been photographed, an invaluable aid in narrowing searches and saving victims more quickly. Traffic Jam, an AI-driven platform, analyzes millions of online ads to connect timelines, networks, and identifying features, thus producing actionable leads for investigators without overwhelming them.
Cara Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Marinus Analytics, further emphasized how AI helps sift through massive data volumes — such as 75 million online commercial sex ads — to detect likely trafficking victims. The platform has analyzed over 1.3 billion records and found hundreds of victims, mostly girls and young women, many of color, allowing law enforcement to focus on evidence-based prosecution built around victims rather than solely on testimony.
Balancing Privacy and Effectiveness
A key concern addressed at the hearing was protecting the privacy of victims while sharing data across agencies. In response to questions from Representative Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Melissa Snow detailed how NCMEC uses AI to analyze large numbers of data points per missing child report, enabling nuanced indicators of trafficking to emerge beyond obvious signs such as escort ads. This approach helps ensure that investigations are both thorough and privacy-conscious.
Megan Lundstrom outlined Polaris’s carefully developed protocols for sharing information with law enforcement without compromising victim confidentiality, emphasizing over 300 operational policies devised through years of operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
Congressional Focus and Next Steps
Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) underscored the importance of these technological innovations, seeking examples of best-case outcomes facilitated by technology. Both Snow and Lundstrom highlighted the life-saving potential of the newer tools but also emphasized the need for continued investment to support the growth and evolution of anti-trafficking technology.
The hearing concluded with calls for Congress to evaluate existing federal anti-trafficking laws, close legislative and resource gaps, and ensure that law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups are equipped to leverage modern technology effectively without sacrificing the rights and privacy of victims.
This hearing marked a critical step in underscoring how technological advances, when ethically applied and coupled with survivor expertise and strong collaboration, can dramatically improve the nation’s capacity to identify, protect, and serve victims of human trafficking.
