Microsoft Researcher Uses Dark Web Search to Fight Human Trafficking
His work has helped rescue victims and protect troops—here's how.
Chris White, director of Microsoft Research's Catalyst Lab, has chased tech with immediate, real-world implications—including dark-web search tools used to help combat human trafficking. In the summer of 2010, as a postdoc, he worked with a multidisciplinary DARPA team to determine whether a new approach to data analysis could prevent violence and protect troops during the war in Afghanistan, and at the program's end the agency asked him to prove his work's value on the ground. White says he has seen "a lot of really bad humanity"—terrorism, trafficking and sophisticated organized crime—but that the light of making a difference lets him handle the dark parts.
- Chris White helped create dark-web search tools that assist law enforcement in fighting human trafficking.
- He worked on the ground in Afghanistan to prove that data analysis could save lives.
- His career shows that picking the right problem is key to making a real-world impact.
Why It Matters
Technology can be a powerful tool for social good, helping to fight crime and save lives.