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| Operation Renewed Hope | |
|---|---|
| Operation Name | Operation Renewed Hope |
| Type | Child Pornography Investigation |
| Scope | multinational |
| Roster | |
| Planned by | United States |
| Initiated by | U.S. Homeland Security Investigations |
| Countries Participated | Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, United Kingdom |
| # of Countries Participated | 13 |
| Mission | |
| Target | previously unidentified child abuse victims and child abusers |
| Method | Usage of Clearview AI image recognition technology to reprocess all previously seized images associated with child sexual abuse. |
| Timeline | |
| Date begin | July 17, 2023 |
| Date end | August 9, 2023 (announced results) |
| Results | |
| Miscellaneous Results |
|
| Accounting | |
Operation Renewed Hope was an international operation led by the US Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Center (C3) Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEOU), to identify previously unknown and unidentified child sexual abuse victims. The operation began on July 17, 2023, and it completed in August 2023. Results were announced on August 9, 2023.
Method
HSI teams utilized existing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) as a basis for analysis to comb through and search for unidentified children, offenders, and locations. This information was packaged up to create leads that were then sent to investigative partners. The precise technology or techniques used have not been revealed to the public. However, the leads were shared with HSI field offices and 25 partnering countries in the US and abroad.
The process used facial recognition technology from the US-based company Clearview AI among other techniques to identify victims. That AI technology has been banned by some countries including Australia because it breaches their privacy regulations.
Results
The operation allegedly generated:
- 311 probable identifications of previously unknown victims
- 14 positive contacts (which includes several confirmed victim rescues from active abuse)
Participating groups and law enforcement agencies
The following organizations were involved in the operation:
- United States
- United States Marshals Service
- United States Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Northern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force
- International partners from:
and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- International Center for Missing & Exploited Children
- Tim Tebow Foundation
References
- ^ "HSI, partners launch first US-based international victim identification surge". ICE.gov. United States Government - Department of Homeland Security - Press Release. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ O'Flaherty, Antonia (23 August 2023). "Facial recognition used to identify more than 300 probable child abuse victims". ABC News. Retrieved 27 January 2024.