Chen Changping (ICT)
1
A Robotic System for Reunification of
Abducted Children Project Plan
Background
Along with the modernization of Mainland China, human trafficking has become a serious and yet
intractable issue. While it’s officially reported that fewer than 10,000 children are kidnapped each
year, U.S. State Department estimates that the number reaches up to 20,000. Some estimates even put
the number as high as 70,000, suggesting that over 190 children are abducted daily. Most of these
abducted children are kidnapped not for ransom but rather for sale, coerced into slave labor,
prostitution, and most of all, begging on streets.i
Goal
This project is by a successful Internet campaign a year ago. The idea was simple – the public was
called and encouraged to take photos of child beggars on street and post the pictures on micro
blogging sites, and volunteers centralizing these information would then notify media and the
policeii. This project intends to further investigate how we can use Information Communication
Technology (ICT) and build an intelligent platform to assist the reunification of abducted children.
Ideas and Implementation
In this project, we would like to assess the following adoptions of ICTs and attempt to implement a
model, which demonstrates its potential in resolving cases of missing children.
Building a Database of Street Children and Missing Children
ICT can be utilized to build databases of street children and missing children. A specialized web
application can maintain these two large databases and provide multiple interfaces for both human
and robots, including webpage, software, and Application Programming Interfaces (API), that allow
us to build a unified record on each child, which could contain one’s name, photo, origin, blood type,
DNA data, and any type of information that helps us to identify the child.
Social workers can keep track of each child and update profiles frequently. Reports of missing
children can be imported and migrated from existing databases online. A routine cross-reference that
compares profiles and runs facial identification can match street children and missing children with a
certain degree of accuracy (or possibility in algorithm)iii and government can assess the result and
take actions. These profiles can also be used in law enforcement, e.g. mass street children relocating
to same place at the same time is abnormal and entails investigation.
However, for such a system to work, the implementation should focus on scalability and reliability. It
needs to scale to both horizontally (more child profiles) and vertically (sophisticated profile). It
should also allow simultaneous access. The database should be document-oriented rather than
relational, to support a dynamic structure of profiles.
Aggregating Database with Social Media (Data Mining)
Not all missing children would wander on streets. Some are put into more hazardous environments.
However, given that one most certainly carries a cell phone with both camera and access to the
Internet, many photos of abused children are taken and posted on corners of the Internet. Hence, by
combining these scattered pieces of information, we can construct a broader database. An
Chen Changping (ICT)
2
implementation of below can be deployed on centralized cloud platforms, e.g. Amazon Elastic
Compute Cloud (EC2) to reduce cost.
Streamed Information Processing
By cooperating with user-generated contents websites, we programmatically access each piece of
data and search for anything useful. For instance, a tweet, containing message “OMG, that’s so brutal
and mean!!!” and a freshly captured photo of child transporting freight, is added to a database of
potential victims, which is later checked automatically with facial recognitioniv and identity matching
software in reference to the missing children database. Hence, an algorithm of pattern matching,
preferably aided by machine learning trained with real world samples, needs to be developed and
constantly improved. Also notice that since surveillance cameras are ubiquitous, camera feeds can
also be used to run facial recognition software against a missing children database.
Active Scavenging
Taking a step further, we can actively look for useful information, not supplied by partners, and
process it as above. Data sources could be RSS feeds of forums, a custom web indexer/crawler, etc.
Exporting Data to Media, Government and the Public
Exporting info to media is necessary in some case, e.g. a missing child is identified in a random
snapshot in Shanghai and media need to release his or her profile so that residents can identify said
child. Easy exporting to digital or printable format allows various forms of distribution of
information. Ideally, a website should be constructed to release and update on each case of missing
child to the public.v
However, profiles of missing children should never be on crumpled posters stamped on utility poles.
Instead, APIs for data exporting could be used. Advertising companies can access profiles from
databases directly via APIs. Imagine a bus station with a digital screen originally used to play
advertisements can also be used to run notice of missing child, with fresh data fed in on the fly.
Governments and media can access real-time auto-generated statistical data, either in numbers or in
graphs, via APIs or human interfaces, for their own purposes.
Project Execution Procedures
•
•
•
•
Interviews with social workers, government officials and media (up to 20) to discuss their
needs and difficulties. This process should take up to three months.
A series of interviews will then be conducted with Information Technology experts to discuss
the system’s structure and flaws.
A team of programmers will work closely with social workers and police department
(responsible for rescue of children) to develop alpha-version model.
Alpha model will then be tested for real world viability regionally.
Expected Difficulties
•
•
Data recorded by social workers are local while data through data mining online and children
trafficking are national; therefore, the model may not precisely function.
Government noncooperation and objection may take places in forms of censorship.vi
Estimated Results
Considering technical difficulties in its implementation and involvement of multiple parties, it’s
certainly possible that this system model cannot be made or would not work. Nonetheless, even if it
fails, it serves as an example from which subsequent designs learn.
Chen Changping (ICT)
3
End Notes
Adapted from China’s Missing Children by Charles Custer on Foreign Policy <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/06/china_missing_children>. The
alarming situation also thoroughly illustrated in video at
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPSEdErE-kE>.
i
Description of this campaign can be found at
<http://www.majinxin.com/2011/02/08/how-microblog-is-helping-abducted-children-inchina/>
ii
In a research funded by U.S. Department of Justice by ANSWER Analytic Services Inc.
<https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/186277.pdf>, despite that this research is
conducted in 2001, facial recognitions is experimented to identify children’s faces (in Section
4 in final report). Several techniques are discussed and can be incorporated into our design.
iii
Automatic facial identification, despite of the improvement of algorithm and use of
machine learning that makes it possible to improve itself in progression, can certainly fail to
recognize the children, primarily because either photo is vague or the child has grown up.
Having said that, the photo below, adapted from micro-blogging site
<http://weibo.com/1858390562/y2Ju1veXI>, is clear enough for facial recognition.
iv
There’s already existing website dedicated to posting and finding missing children, e.g.
“Baby Come Home”<http://www.baobeihuijia.com/> ran by volunteers. Yet they use
forum software, spammed by advertisement robots, to record missing child, e.g.
<http://bbs.baobeihuijia.com/thread-54620-1-1.html>, failing to structuralize child’s
information, thus making searches and matches hard.
v
vi
Exemplified in video at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxZVUx1BVOQ>.
Chen Changping (ICT)
4
Appendix #1 - Why This Project Matters?
Since I was thirteen, I’ve been making programs for various reasons, for fun, profit, friends, etc. I’ve
built several applications, some open source and some for profit. I’m also experienced with database
and web apps. Nonetheless, to my disappointment, I’ve never ever made ANY contribution to
solving real-world problems, despite that I’ve always wanted to. Often tangled by poor kids begging
me to buy flowers everyday on my way home, I’m determined that this project matters to me.
Besides, I’ve always believed that technologies are developed to solve problems. Facebook is great
because it allows us to socialize online. Automatic ticket machines are great because they save us
time and money. Yet the fact is, technologies are just a fancy term in China, perhaps also in lessdeveloped countries, often misunderstood by governors, both carelessly and deliberately.
Nowadays, use of technologies is prevalent even though China has not had technologies thirty years
ago; however, they were not used with the ultimate purpose of solving real issues in mind, but often
for a simple-minded and naïve belief that technology is just good.
Misuse of technologies is common in China. For example, expensive television sets are deployed in
place of cheap ordinary LED screens in subways stations in Shenzhen for displaying train schedules.
Yet the letters on TVs are so small that only people within meters can clearly see, not to mention
almost all children in school today are myopic. In comparison, subway stations in Hong Kong, just
across a river, utilize unexceptional LED screens that only concisely show necessary information. The
original purpose of these screens is to display information. Yet using more advanced technology
without understanding its nature and purpose does not always yield expected results.
For the same reason, to solve abduction of children, we must not rely on the belief that use of
technology is helpful to resolving this issue. We must look into deeper causes and difficulties of
current situation, and devise a plan that specifically targets to remedy the difficulties we encounter.
The primary motivation in me designing this project is that computational resources are cheap.
Cloud computing is in fact, affordable and easy to manage; and it’s only becoming cheaper as time
passes while human resources are becoming more costly.
Also that a infrastructural system is the foundation of upper-level applications, e.g. a centralized
database providing only read and write access to children’s profiles is fundamental dependency to
any other application that intends to make use of these profiles. Centralization as a character in
infrastructure also matters in that it reduces redundant duplications and makes information available
all in one place in single access.
However, I acknowledge that building a robust system that suits our needs is not easy. Government
can be the most reluctant in adopting such model. Yet, since such infrastructural database contains
large volume of private information, government is the only party that can build and maintain it.
Perhaps this is why in spite of efforts made; no such official database ever existed.
Hence, in designing this system delineated in project plan I intended it not to become totally
dependent on governmental support. In fact, the system would work just fine with volunteers and
without government involved in it. I suppose the most important aspect of this system is its active
hunting for information on the Internet. Instead of passively retrieving information input by human,
it actively looks for information. This process is automatic and most importantly, is comprehensive.
By using web indexers, we can actively target for information related to abused children. It takes
probably only an hour and cost of one-hour labor to peruse web pages of abused children by hungry
machines in racks that would take an entire day for one human being. Such massive access to
information could hopefully, dramatically increase the rate of finding a missing child.
Chen Changping (ICT)
This document is also available at URL below in case anything in
this PDF formatted document does not work.
http://gs.ccp.li/children_reunification.html
5