Where Are The Images Now

and what can be done?

 

When an image has been shared online, we can never be sure where they are. But there are steps we can take to try and find and block them.

The police will upload images into a child abuse image database and these images will be given a specific ‘hash’ (a code made up of numbers) that enables organisations to search the internet for the same hash. Any found get blocked and steps are taken to get it removed from the internet.

There is a similar option called Report Remove that enables a child who may have a copy of their intimate image to get it coded and add it to the searches that are made.

Only the specialist police see the image as part of the investigation. There is no reason for anyone else to see. Often children do not know who has seen their images and feel reassured by this information.

Some images may have been created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is illegal in the UK. If you are aware that anyone, regardless of age, has a copy, fake or real intimate image of your child, that should be reported to the police.