I was looking through the ICMEC website (http://www.icmec.org/)) and came upon an initiative called Project VIC. Now remember that ICMEC is an offshoot of NCMEC (National Center of Missing and Exploited Children).

Project VIC is part of a global strategy to develop and implement streamlined methods to investigate child sexual exploitation. http://www.icmec.org/project-vic/ https://archive.is/2EOx4

It is basically a collection of all the child sexual exploitation videos and photos ever found. In the hands of an agency that is not even government based. Their propaganda states that "Project VIC is a collaborative effort between ICMEC, law enforcement and industry". There is an elaborate system of identifying each of these photographs on hashtags and other complicated numerical IDs. **You will love their philosophy: Victims First – No Child Left Behind. ** (Another thought: Where is all this data housed physically?)

From their website:

What exactly does Project VIC do? First, Project VIC compiled all existing online child abuse images into a single repository. Each image, whether still or video, has a unique identifier known as a “hash value.” Using the hash value allows investigators to quickly rule images in or out of their searches. {My Interpretation: All items are individually marked so that copies of items will be flagged. No passing off someone else’s work as your own.}

Project VIC participants have organized and compiled detailed lists of their own image collections using these hash values. {Their OWN IMAGE Collections???}

Project VIC also commissioned the creation of an “image hash cloud,” which is available to investigators around the world. They download the “master image hash lists,” which contain the identifiers of highly vetted, known images of child sexual exploitation. Law enforcement personnel also are able to expand the database by uploading new hashes they have seized. {So this database access is cloud-based, where you can get the master list of the content. And the members can upload new stuff anytime.}

To make the image hash cloud effective, all involved need to have the ability to contribute back. Project VIC protocols allow for this because the technology is governed by OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards. This ensures that technology tool providers can adopt – and their data will be compatible with – the Project VIC ecosystem of technology tools. {With privately developed technology, everyone will need to get the tech tools needed to work in the system.}

In the fall of 2015 Project VIC launched a new initiative, Project VIC-International, to promote and grow the information sharing of Project VIC data and innovations. Project VIC has already started work on a bridge to major data sources at INTERPOL and Europol. Other countries have adopted the Project VIC model of information sharing, and victim centric approach to investigations including the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. {What an interesting group of international information partners.}

What is ICMEC’s role? We serve as the Administrative Coordinator and International Outreach Coordinator for Project VIC. To that end, we: • Coordinate domestic and international outreach and expansion efforts; • Vet countries/foreign entities for possible participation in Project VIC; • Coach and mentor countries early on regarding Project VIC through roundtable discussions and assessments; • Deploy hands-on trainings to introduce investigators to Project VIC and the workflow of tools used to combat child exploitation; • Assist with developing custom and individual Project VIC strategic plans for interested countries; • Facilitate the donation of Project VIC technology tools; and • Convene an International Technology Summit with all Project VIC participants to gather international requirements and innovation ideas.

This certainly seems like a massively expensive system to develop and maintain. I cannot even guess the amount of funds that went into this. They must have a lot of success identifying victims and perpetrators, right? According to their website: 250+victims identified, 125+perpetrators identified. {Really, that’s all?? Even Ashton Kutcher claims more than that!}

This info is from a different site-stating how many images VIC has handled: Image Submissions and Analysis: --Have categorized and quality controlled 1.5million into three categories. --An additional 2.5 Million files have been collected of which 2 Million are unique. --Additional images are being worked on so the set can be increased. (pdf source below)

Here is a pdf Project VIC document that is worth looking at: http://computerforensicsblog.champlain.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Project-VIC-A-Proof-of-Concept-Brown-R-Hofmann-J-5-20-2014.pdf and its archive https://archive.is/YVXdz.

There are a large number of sponsors/partners listed at the end of the pdf file. These include: -Arkansas State Police -Seattle Police -Connecticut State Police -VA/DC Internet Crimes against Children Taskforce (ICAC) -Minnesota ICAC Taskforce -Los Angeles Regional ICAC -Hawaii ICAC Task Force -Nebraska State Patrol -Kentucky State Police -Idaho ICAC Taskforce -Montana ICAC Taskforce -Interpol -Utah ICAC -Illinoic ICAC -Homeland Security Investigations -North Florida ICAC -US Postal Inspection Service -Polis -Colorado ICAC -Queensland Police -San Jose Police -Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation -Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit -Dropbox -THORN (this is the Ashton Kutcher rescue software-Could this software collect or provide access to more photos and videos? What nefarious actions is this software capable of achieving for the creator of the software? ) (I think AK is bs-this connection just added to my belief.)

There are also other sites about it if you are interested: www.projectvic.org/ The purpose of Project VIC is to create an ecosystem of information and data sharing between domestic and international law enforcement agencies all working ... https://archive.is/eU0Ss

Finding child victims in a haystack of forensic images -- GCN https://gcn.com/articles/2015/10/23/gcna-project-vic.aspx Oct 23, 2015 - Richard Brown, technology advancement officer at ICMEC, said the primary goal ofProject Vic was to get law enforcement “on the same page ...https://archive.is/qpzW5

Project Vic Connects in Child Sexual Exploitation Fight - thorn https://www.wearethorn.org/project-vic-connects-those-fighting-child-sexual-exploitation/

Project Vic uses a victim-centered approach and tools improve the efficiency of law enforcement agencies in the fight against child sexual exploitation. https://archive.is/M3o7Z

Other non-archived search results:

PhotoDNA - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoDNA PhotoDNA is a technology developed by Microsoft and improved by Hany Farid of Dartmouth ... Microsoft donated the PhotoDNA technology to Project Vic, managed and supported by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children ... How child abusers are being caught by 'photo DNA' - CNN.com www.cnn.com/2016/04/21/us/project-vic-child-abuse/

Apr 22, 2016 - Cole co-founded Project VIC: their aim is that no victim is be left behind. "We strive to find these children as quick as possible," Cole said. Project VIC demonstrates why identifying victims must be a ... blog.netclean.com/project-vic-demonstrates-identifying-victims-must-priority/

May 11, 2016 - The number of children at risk from sexual exploitation is on the rise, yet many investigators do not have the time to give priority to the work that ... Project VIC: Finding Strength in Information SharingNetClean Labs blog.netclean.com/project-vic-finding-strength-in-information-sharing/ Project VIC: Finding Strength in Information Sharing. Guest Writer; On 21/01/2016. By: Rich Brown, Law Enforcement and Technology Liaison, ICMEC.