In the current digital environment, where child sexual abuse material (CSAM) must be processed at scale, a secure platform is needed to effectively collect, exchange, and classify reports. ICCAM is the solution that supports the removal of online CSAM and ensures that reports between different jurisdictions are exchanged securely. It is a fundamental tool in reducing the prevalence of CSAM online and in tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children worldwide.
The ICCAM platform is used by INHOPE member hotlines and streamlines report processing, increasing productivity and efficiency while minimising exposure to illegal content. It improves the effectiveness of an analyst’s role in the following ways:
A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed network of servers that helps with content distribution. In the past year, analysts needed to contact a CDN company via email for each individual case to find out where content was hosted. This manual work and waiting time will soon be significantly reduced, as analysts will have access to a simple lookup button directly within ICCAM.
ICCAM allows analysts to analyse a webpage, download its content within the platform, and trace information about the page and hosted material. In this context, tracing refers to identifying IP addresses from hosting providers. All of this information is retrieved automatically within ICCAM.
Previously assessed content is never viewed a second time by analysts, who are considered digital first responders. Once content has been assessed, any reappearance of the same image is automatically assigned the previous classification and is not viewed again. Without ICCAM, this proportion of reports would need to be reassessed manually.
An analyst’s role carries significant emotional and psychological impact due to the nature of the material reviewed. From a technological perspective, ICCAM minimises harm by ensuring that previously assessed content is not re-exposed to analysts.
ICCAM detects thousands of individual content URLs containing CSAM at a speed that exceeds traditional methods of identification. INHOPE Technical Manager Kalina Zografska notes that “the number of unique content URLs processed from January to August 2021 was 699,861.” This extraordinary volume demonstrates how ICCAM’s functionality makes a measurable difference in limiting the spread of CSAM online.
Since its launch, ICCAM has undergone several modifications to better support hotlines combatting online CSAM. Kalina explains, “What we are working on now is considered to be the biggest strength in the development of ICCAM: the API and a standard for the exchange of information. Since the start of ICCAM, there was an assumption that everything would take place within the application itself. As organisations receive reports of differing severity and volume, we are investing in upgrading ICCAM to meet the needs of the network.”
While organisations may continue to use their own systems, they will be able to connect and exchange data in a standardised way through the ICCAM API. ICCAM will remain a central repository for information exchange and evolve into a platform of interconnected systems.
In addition to improving standards for information exchange, future development will focus on the ability to import different types of hash lists. This has the potential to save analysts more time by increasing the detection of known content.
All new functionality is designed with the long-term goal of making ICCAM more interconnected. New capabilities will address the following analyst challenges:
Continued investment in ICCAM’s development is vital to combat the global rise and spread of CSAM. To learn more about supporting ICCAM through becoming an Annual Funding Partner, click the button below.
