The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) is made up of law enforcement agencies from around the world working together to fight child abuse online. The aim of the VGT is to build an effective, international partnership of law enforcement agencies that helps to protect children from online child abuse.
The objectives of the VGT are:
The VGT is made up of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in the UK, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the US Department of Homeland Security and Interpol. Jim Gamble, the Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is the Chair of the VGT.
The VGT delivers low-cost, high impact initiatives that prevent and deter paedophiles from exploiting children online.
Operation PIN involves the creation of a website that purports to contain images of child abuse but which, in fact, is a law enforcement site. Anyone who enters the site and who attempts to download images is confronted with an on-line law enforcement presence. The individual is informed that he has entered a law enforcement website, has committed an offence and that his details may have been captured and passed to the relevant national authorities.
Since its launch in December 2003, Operation PIN has captured the details of individuals from a number of different countries who were actively looking for images of child abuse. However, this is not the primary aim of this initiative. Operation PIN is designed as a crime reduction initiative and its real success has been in undermining the confidence of those who think that the Internet is an anonymous place where paedophiles and other criminals can operate without fear of being caught.
The Virtual Global Taskforce has an ongoing commitment to Operation PIN, and continues to work with industry and others to refine aspects of the Operation and make the Internet an increasingly hostile and dangerous place for those seeking images of child abuse.
The VGT, via this website, also provides advice, information and support to adults and children alike on how to stay safe online. This includes information on how to report abuse direct to the VGT. Over the past twelve months, the VGT has received over 300 reports from concerned adults and children about activity online.
Case studies of what can happen are within the case studies section.