Home sharing giant Airbnb says it will tap new technology to fight the growing menace of sex trafficking and rental accommodation being used as pop up brothels.
In an interview with Thomson Reuters Foundation the company said it has partnered with anti-trafficking charity Polaris to develop new procedures using data analysis.
Polaris will also help train Airbnb employees on signs to look out for to prevent trafficking.
"We’re taking a modern approach to combating modern slavery by leveraging the innovation of the sharing economy to better spot and stop potential exploitation ahead of time," Nick Shapiro, global head of trust and risk management at Airbnb told Reuters.
"Exploitation and trafficking are still all too common in today’s society, but we are eager to use our global reach to help assist in the effort to end it once and for all."
Airbnb will use its current screening procedures for hosts and guests and combine it with specialized data from Polaris.
Polaris operates the US National Human Trafficking Hotline and says at least 2,680 people were recorded as trafficked victims at hotels across the US from January 2015 to September 2017.
Most of these were coerced into sex work it says.
