At the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, we work closely with a network of survivors of online child sexual exploitation who are dedicated to sharing their experiences to help others.  When we recently spoke to them about the developments around the ePrivacy Directive, they were devastated by the potential loss of the tools to identify child sexual abuse imagery and detect grooming behavior.    

Here is just one of the messages we received:  
 “I appreciate the dedication to privacy but I also feel the European Parliament should consider my privacy and safety as a survivor of child abuse imagery.   
There are so many tools out there right now that are finally giving hope to myself and other survivors of child sexual exploitation, hope that our content will cease to be traded on the internet and hope that children who are still being abused can be rescued. News like this feels like a step in the wrong direction.   Without the proactive scanning of messages predators will be able to trade images and accept payment without detection.  
I plead, as someone who has felt the pain and deals with the lifelong repercussions of this horrendous crime, that you not extinguish what little light we have on the horizon.”  

- Survivor of Online Child Sexual Exploitation 

We need to act now so our voices and theirs are heard before the vote on December 7.  In addition to signing the petition, please continue to spread the word through social media and with your friends, family and colleagues.  Visit missingkids.org/childsafetyfirst for resources that can help with that.   

To win this fight, it will take all of us, so please act now. Children across the globe are counting on us.  

Thank you, 
NCMEC