Software to fight Child Exploitation Donated to AFP

By Greg McNevin

March 10, 2008: Microsoft has donated a new piece of software to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to help in the fight against child abuse.

Called the Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS), the software has been designed by Microsoft to help law enforcement agencies better share information with their international counterparts.

As child abuse is a worldwide problem without borders it is important that information can be shared between Police forces around the globe. Microsoft says CETS makes the task of gathering evidence both at home and abroad far easier.

“With so much information and data to process, connecting the dots is a difficult job,” said Microsoft senior vice president Brad Smith. “Imagine trying to connect those dots across different cities, states, countries and law enforcement agencies – CETS was developed to tackle this very issue.”

CETS is a case management system that enables close collaboration between different police agencies. Agents are linked, as are databases enabling information sharing and widespread shared data analysis that has traditionally been quite difficult, if not impossible.

The system is already in use in countries such as United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Romania, Indonesia, Chile, Brazil and Canada, and has been credited with aiding 240 arrests and the dismantlement of three paedophile groups.

“The message is simple: no form of child abuse will be tolerated in Australia or anywhere in the world,” said AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty. “Today’s announcement will strengthen the AFP's global online presence in actively policing the internet community.”

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