Fighting human trafficking with self-contained applications
4 hours ago
- #law-enforcement
- #rust-programming
- #human-trafficking
- Brooke Deuson, a survivor of human trafficking, develops free software to combat human trafficking through her nonprofit Trafficking Free Tomorrow.
- She chose Rust for its static linking and cross-compilation capabilities, making deployment easier in underfunded police departments.
- FolSum, an MIT-licensed application, helps maintain the chain of custody for digital evidence by recording hashes and producing reports.
- Deuson initially used Python but faced distribution challenges, leading her to Rust for creating standalone, easy-to-deploy executables.
- Rust's memory safety and official endorsements help justify its use to non-technical stakeholders.
- FolSum features a simple, immediate-mode GUI written with egui, which users appreciated for its clarity and ease of use.
- Future plans for FolSum include adding a progress bar, better handling of network-attached storage, and a crash reporter.
- Deuson aims to make human trafficking economically unfeasible by providing reliable tools to law enforcement.