The TULiPS lab is conducting a research study on the work practices of Online Child Safety Engineers, particularly people who work on mitigating Child Sexual Abuse Material through the use of automated technology. We are asking people with experience working in the online the Child Safety space, particularly people working to keep harmful content from being hosted or shared online to take part.
We are looking for people who are or have recently worked for a technology company in the domain of child safety with roles covering issues like building technology that detects CSAM material at scale, deciding on what technology to adopt, or coordinating such efforts across organizations.
Participation in the study will consist of a semi-structured interview that will take approximately 50-60 minutes. During the interview we will ask questions such as “Thinking across the ecosystem, what existing solutions do you think have been most effective in detecting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)?”. With permission, the interview will be audio recorded to ensure accurate transcription and analysis; however, recording is optional. We will not be collecting your name or affiliation, and any resulting report will anonymize any quotes.
This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board.
The Information Letter has more details describing the study. If you would like to participate, or you require additional information to assist you in reaching a decision, please contact the lead student researcher Sarah Chun (sarah.chun@uwaterloo.ca). You may also contact the supervisor Professor Kami Vaniea email (kami.vaniea@uwaterloo.ca).
The report from the study will be posted here in late December or early January. Resulting peer-reviewed publications will also be posted here when accepted.
Below are links to some related projects and research papers we have worked on.