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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:37 pm
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Results for mobile telephones
2 results foundAuthor: Latonero, Mark Title: The Rise of Mobile and the Diffusion of Technology-Facilitated Trafficking Summary: In September 2012, President Obama identified human trafficking as one of the great human rights issues of our time, representing a “debasement of our common humanity that tears at the social fabric of our communities, endangers public health, distorts markets, and fuels violence and organized crime.” The nature and extent of human trafficking in modern society is complex and evolving, however, and our understanding of the phenomenon is fraught with contested terminologies and differing perceptions. Broadly speaking, human trafficking involves the severe sexual and labor exploitation of vulnerable people for financial gain, which amounts to a gross violation of human rights. Children exploited in the sex trade are especially at risk. What role does technology play in the shifting dynamics of human trafficking today? In this report, researchers at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) reveal how those involved in human trafficking have been quick to adapt to the 21st-century global landscape. While the rapid diffusion of digital technologies such as mobile phones, social networking sites, and the Internet has provided significant benefits to society, new channels and opportunities for exploitation have also emerged. Increasingly, the business of human trafficking is taking place online and over mobile phones. But the same technologies that are being used for trafficking can become a powerful tool to combat trafficking. The precise role that digital technologies play in human trafficking still remains unclear, however, and a closer examination of the phenomenon is vital to identify and respond to new threats and opportunities. This investigation indicates that mobile devices and networks have risen in prominence and are now of central importance to the sex trafficking of minors in the United States. While online platforms such as online classifieds and social networking sites remain a potential venue for exploitation, this research suggests that technology-facilitated trafficking is more diffuse and adaptive than initially thought. This report presents a review of current literature, trends, and policies; primary research based on mobile phone data collected from online classified sites; a series of firsthand interviews with law enforcement; and key recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders moving forward. While the sex trafficking of minors continues to expand across multiple media platforms, our research indicates that the rise of mobile technology may fundamentally transform the trafficking landscape. No other communication technology in history, including the Internet, has been adopted so rapidly around the world. The World Bank estimates that 75% of the global population has access to a mobile phone. Mobile’s ability to facilitate real-time communication and coordination, unbound by physical location, is also being exploited by traffickers to extend the reach of their illicit activities. Traffickers are able to recruit, advertise, organize, and communicate primarily—or even exclusively—via mobile phone, effectively streamlining their activities and expanding their criminal networks. In short, human traffickers and criminal networks are taking advantage of technology to reach larger audiences and to do illicit business more quickly and efficiently across greater distances. Mobile communication may also represent a breakthrough for interventions by law enforcement and the anti-trafficking community. Data gleaned from cellphones and mobile networks constitute a trail of information and evidence that can be a powerful tool in identifying, tracking, and prosecuting traffickers. Mobile technologies can also be used to reach vulnerable communities and raise public awareness. The rise of mobile has major implications both for the spread of human trafficking and for anti-trafficking efforts, and should be carefully considered by law enforcement, policymakers, and activists as they develop strategies to combat human trafficking in the United States and worldwide. Furthermore, the respect for privacy and civil liberties, and potential unintended consequences of technological interventions on victims and survivors, are crucial considerations in developing mobile-based solutions. This research expands on CCLP’s 2011 report examining the role of online technologies in human trafficking. Key findings of the 2011 report focused on the use of Internet technologies, particularly online classifieds and social media sites, for the sex trafficking of minors in the United States. The USC Information Sciences Institute (ISI) and CCLP collaborated to develop prototype software designed to detect possible cases of sex trafficking of minors online. Our research indicated that tools such as data mining, mapping, computational linguistics, and advanced analytics could be used by governmental and nongovernmental organizations, law enforcement, academia, and the private sector to further anti-trafficking goals of prevention, protection, and prosecution. Details: Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, 2012. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Series on Technology and Human Trafficking; Accessed November 23, 2012 at: http://www.ungift.org/doc/knowledgehub/resource-centre/USC-Annenberg-Technology-and-Human-Trafficking-2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.ungift.org/doc/knowledgehub/resource-centre/USC-Annenberg-Technology-and-Human-Trafficking-2012.pdf Shelf Number: 126983 Keywords: Human TraffickingMobile TechnologiesMobile TelephonesOnline CommunicationsSex TraffickingSexual ExploitationTechnology and Crime |
Author: Latonero, Mark Title: Technology and Labor Trafficking in a Network Society. General Overview, Emerging Innovations, and Philippines Case Study Summary: While interviewing survivors of labor trafficking for this report, researchers heard from a young woman in the Philippines who applied for domestic work in the Middle East. She recounted the way her friend, already working abroad, had called and sent texts of encouragement and eventually put her in touch with a recruiter. She was promised that her documents would be arranged with an employer before her flight to begin work. Upon her departure, the recruiter said that plans had changed. She was told her work papers and airline ticket would be issued in Malaysia. The woman was put on a boat and spent over a week crossing the Sulu Sea from one island to another. She was isolated. Her only means of communication was her mobile phone. Not wanting to worry her family (they had high hopes for her employment), she communicated only with her friend, asking for advice and reassurance. Even if she had been able to access the Internet, it is unclear whether she possessed the skills or knowledge to search for the appropriate online resources. Once in Malaysia, she was put into a van with others. While traveling to an unknown destination they were apprehended by police. Interrogated and imprisoned, the young woman managed to sneak her phone into jail and made one last call. Finally, the friend passed along word of her plight and the Philippine government intervened. After a month in prison she was repatriated and is currently in a rehabilitation shelter in Manila. This report finds that isolation from the technologies and social networks that connect individuals to support and services is an indicator and risk factor for labor trafficking. Stories of isolation are unfortunately common in cases of labor trafficking. What is striking in the case above is the central role played by technology. The woman's mobile device both connects and disconnects her from illegal recruiters, employers, family, friends, social services, and assistance. This speaks to the larger premise of this report - new information and communication technologies (ICT's) have become an integral part of the networks that underpin labor trafficking in the 21st Century. Yet little research exists on the impact of technology in exacerbating or addressing the isolation, fraud, force, and/or coercion so often at the heart of trafficking cases. There is a lack of evidence-based research on any relationship between technology and labor trafficking either within or across national borders. To effectively intervene in labor trafficking, the impact of technology needs to be addressed by policy makers, governments, NGOs, researchers, and the private sector. Throughout the world, the rapid diffusion of technologies, such as social media, mobile devices, and the Internet, is impacting social, economic, and political life at an unprecedented scale. We live in a "network society" where technology and the flow of information are crucial forces of global social change. The network perspective helps us examine labor trafficking in a new way - not only as an economic, regulatory, or legal problem but as an issue driven by the technologies connecting networks of actors. This research report is the first to investigate the relationship between technology and labor trafficking. This project began in early 2014 and was made possible by a grant from Humanity United. The research builds upon the Technology and Human Trafficking Initiative, launched in 2010 at the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy at the University of Southern California. The evidence gathered and analyzed in this report is based on public documents, websites, interviews with key stakeholders in the US and internationally, and fieldwork in the Philippines. With little previous research on the topic, this study is inherently exploratory. Thus this report's primary goal is to frame technology's impact on labor trafficking and to establish a set of definitions, theories, terms, themes, recommendations, and principles that can guide future research and policy. Details: Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, 2015. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 9, 2018 at: https://communicationleadership.usc.edu/files/2015/10/USC_Tech-and-Labor-Trafficking_Feb2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Philippines URL: https://communicationleadership.usc.edu/files/2015/10/USC_Tech-and-Labor-Trafficking_Feb2015.pdf Shelf Number: 149415 Keywords: Domestic WorkersForced LaborHuman TraffickingLabor TraffickingMobile TechnologiesMobile TelephonesOnline CommunicationsSocial MediaTechnology and Crime |