Hearing Wrap Up: Technology Can Help Law Enforcement Identify and Protect Human Trafficking Victims
Washington, D.C. — On December 10, 2025, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation convened a hearing entitled “Using Modern Tools to Counter Human Trafficking.” The session focused on the dual role technology plays in both facilitating human trafficking and offering innovative solutions to identify and protect victims. Lawmakers and experts discussed how traffickers exploit digital platforms while underscoring the critical need for updated technological resources to empower law enforcement efforts effectively.
The Threat Landscape: Technology as a Double-Edged Sword
Human traffickers have increasingly leveraged digital advances to conduct their illicit activities. Experts highlighted a striking evolution from traditional recruitment methods involving physical locations such as gas stations and bus stops to sophisticated algorithmic targeting on apps and online marketplaces. Megan Lundstrom, CEO of Polaris, emphasized this shift in her testimony:
“A decade ago, traffickers found people like me at gas stations and bus stops. They exploited us through hotels, prepaid gift cards and burner phones. Today, it’s algorithmic targeting apps and digital wallets… Traffickers are opportunists. They will always adopt new technology faster than systems with compliance obligations.”
Melissa Snow, Executive Director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), underscored that child sex trafficking is often facilitated openly on the "clear web". She elaborated:
“The internet provides unregulated and anonymous spaces where traffickers and buyers can engage with children in ways that would never be acceptable offline. Traffickers groom children via gaming and social media platforms, and use online escort and dating websites to advertise and sell.”
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Modern Tools
Despite the challenges, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are proving invaluable in combating trafficking. Polaris has integrated survivor input to build causal AI models that identify root structural drivers of trafficking such as child poverty. Lundstrom explained:
“Ethical technology has enormous potential to combat human trafficking. Our AI model allows policymakers to test interventions like childcare tax credits that could reduce vulnerability to trafficking before exploitation occurs.”
Similarly, NCMEC utilizes tools like Traffic Cam, which helps pinpoint hotel rooms where child trafficking victims have been photographed. Snow described the life-saving impact of these technologies:
“Being able to connect a missing child to an active escort ad, and narrow it down to a specific hotel, provides actionable leads for law enforcement that can significantly reduce the child’s time in danger.”
Cara Jones, CEO of Marinus Analytics, discussed their product Traffic Jam, which indexes billions of online commercial sex ads to extract actionable insights. This technology helps investigators build stronger, evidence-based cases without overburdening victims or law enforcement:
“In just two years, our AI analyzed 60,000 missing persons records and detected 734 trafficking victims, predominantly girls and young women of color advertised online.”
Privacy and Data Sharing Considerations
A key theme during the hearing was safeguarding victims’ privacy while utilizing technology. When questioned by Representative Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) about AI processes and data sharing protocols, Snow elaborated that NCMEC’s AI integrates thousands of nuanced data points to flag likely trafficking while carefully balancing privacy concerns. She clarified that data from sources such as AMBER alerts and child abduction cases are also incorporated when trafficking indicators emerge.
Lundstrom detailed Polaris’ rigorous protocols developed over 18 years operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline. These guide when and how data is shared with law enforcement, ensuring victims’ privacy is prioritized:
“We have over 300 protocols to identify trafficking situations and decide if reporting to law enforcement is appropriate, always putting the people we serve first.”
Congressional Oversight and Moving Forward
Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) praised the technological advancements but highlighted the necessity of sustained support for innovation:
“These tools are vital to making connections between missing children and traffickers. We must ensure continued resources to keep pace with evolving offender tactics.”
Members expressed the imperative for Congress to review and update federal anti-trafficking laws and funding mechanisms to close existing gaps and enhance technology deployment.
Conclusion
As human trafficking increasingly exploits digital platforms, the hearing demonstrated that technology—when developed and applied ethically with survivor input—offers promising avenues to identify victims, support law enforcement investigations, and disrupt criminal networks. Continuing to refine and invest in AI-powered tools while safeguarding privacy will be central to advancing the national response against human trafficking.
