Blockchain company fighting Bitcoin child pornography payments

New measures to combat payments for child pornography are being developed by Elliptic, a blockchain intelligence company, in conjunction with the UK's Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). The partnership will use blockchain technology to clamp down on Bitcoin's role in the procurement of child sex abuse imagery. The IWF has provided Elliptic with a database of Bitcoin addresses linked to child pornography, which will be incorporated into Elliptic's transaction-monitoring and investigation products that automatically alert law-enforcement agencies to suspect transactions.

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Blockchain company to fight child pornography

Bytecoin

A blockchain intelligence company from the United States and an internet watchdog in the United Kingdom announced a partnership to fight paying for child pornography on the world wide web using the technology underlying Bitcoin and related secure payment system. New York-based startup Elliptic said the deal with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), headquartered in London, is designed to help "clamp down on Bitcoin’s role in procuring child sex abuse images,".

"We are proud to take a leadership role in combating Bitcoin's use to facilitate these terrible crimes. In a world's first, Elliptic's clients can now automatically monitor all transactions for any connection to proceeds of child sex abuse," said James Smith, chief executive and co-founder of Elliptic.

The IWF has already provided Elliptic with a database of Bitcoin addresses associated with child sexual abuse. Elliptic will integrate the data set into its transaction monitoring and investigation products. When a suspected transaction is discovered, system will automatically alert financial institutions and law enforcement clients to find persons behind the payment for illegal content.

The charity has so far identified more than 68,000 URLs containing child sexual abuse images. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in Malaysia estimated that two million children in the world are affected by sexual exploitation every year.

"Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing amount of Bitcoin activity connected to purchasing child sexual abuse material online. Our new partnership with Elliptic is imperative to helping us tackle this criminal use of Bitcoin," said Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the IWF.

Baha Breaking News (BBN) / ZR