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ICMEC Launches Global Alert App to Find Missing Children Faster

January 7, 2026

Video Transcript

Welcome to FinTech TV.

I'm Remmy Blair.

There are an estimated 8 million missing children around the world right now.

Leading the fight to find them is the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, headquartered here in the US.

The NGO works globally to defend children against exploitation and abuse, providing the crucial technology as well as research needed to aid.

In their search and recovery.

Joining me live here at the New York Stock Exchange is Shawna Hoffman, CEO of the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Shawna, great to have you here.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you so much for having me, Remy.

Well, you're here in New York in front of the General Assembly at the United Nations.

So tell me about the call to action.

And that you presented, yeah, so it was a profound honor really to be there yesterday with the General Assembly and to see their hearts in their hearts for children.

And as we looked at declarations and things that we could do together, the number one focus really was how do we make sure that our kids are safe and our kids are safe online.

And there is great opportunities for us to use AI for good.

But the bad guys are really getting ahead of us in so many things we hear all the bad stuff around the globe, but we really have a great opportunity to do good with the advanced technologies.

And so as we spoke at the UN about the dignity of children, what are some of the things we can do with technology to make sure that we're using it for good?

And we focused on, you know, as International Center for Missing Esquitted Children, we focused on the 8 million children who are missing globally.

There has been an effort trying to find them, but without technology.

We're never going to be able to get ahead of the bad guys.

So being able to use the technology for good and jump into an opportunity to collect and gather the entire globe together to search for the kids is really our focus for 2026, and it seemed to be that the nation's states were all coming together saying, yes, let's do it.

Yeah, 8 million is a staggering statistic.

So I do want to hear about this new tool that you're about to launch and how it will help in the search.

That's good.

So it's called the Global Missing Children Alert, and it's an app and a platform.

So if I'm a parent and let's say that I'm at the airport and my child goes missing, I can immediately upload my child's picture with AI helping me along with some questions immediately that will go to the local law enforcement and with geolocation it'll bring the officer that's the closest to me to my location to help find the child.

The officer then.

Proofs through our platform, which is an app for them.

Yes or no.

Yes, it's a valid claim of a child being lost, and then immediately out to a certain demographics that would be within 5 to 10 mile range would be an alert that comes up with a picture saying this is a child who is missing.

And so we start to be able to connect to the globe and use geolocation, use facial detection on the edge.

Now that's like a different and a new technology.

Facial detection on the edge is only looking for the missing kids.

It's not looking for the bad guys.

We're not looking for anyone else.

The AI doesn't even see you.

It doesn't even know you exist.

All it is looking for is the child who is missing.

So that is advanced technology we can use to be a game changer to find the kids.

We need to find them within 24 hours because I will promise you not, you know, want to know what happens to them after 24 hours.

It is a very scary predicament for them after 24 hours.

And Shawna, I understand that your team operates in many countries around the globe.

So when you audit these national systems, what do you think is the single biggest crack that you see children falling through right now, the digital world is, has a very different, uh, footprint than our regular physical world.

So we have the nation states that have their borders, but the digital world has no borders.

And so we start to see children moving from one location to another within 24 hours.

We've seen in the United States where we'll have a trafficker move a child from Florida to California or vice versa, but now we have just moving countries and so without an app like this that is global and have that reach.

It's really hard for them locally to be able to find the children, and so we have to be able to have that cross-border collaboration that occurs.

And speaking of cross-border collaboration, I understand that you were recently at the Vatican to meet the Pope.

So tell us about the conversation you had.

I had the profound honor of sharing with him along with other technology leaders from OpenAI, from Microsoft, from, you know, many of the different big tech companies where we came together.

We had a declaration that was shared with him, and he did accept in regard to child dignity online and focusing on the right of the child in this digital world.

And I will definitely say the Pope was very gentle, very kind, had amazing things to say in support of what we're doing.

I did share with him that we are going to find the 8 million children, so I need everyone's help across the globe so we can find these kids.

There's no reason with the technology that we have today that we aren't doing this already.

And we need every country to come alongside each other, put down the barriers of country to country, and go, let's just talk about the children, because there's no reason a family should lose their child, not in this day and age.

No one should go unnoticed or lost.

And Sean, I understand that you've stated that the digital world was not built for children, so the hard work that needs to be done, what is your focus as you head into the new year?

Yeah, so I have The focus, oh my goodness, finding the children, that is first and foremost.

We need to find them before they are in extreme danger, and that's 24 hours.

So if we can have the schedule occur that as soon as the child goes missing, we have the family who can upload.

The information we get it out to the globe, we'll be able to find the kids within that short time frame that we need for the children that after the 24 hours has occurred we call, you know, that's where the exploitation, exploitation typically is occurring and so with that there's The scam centers are a really big concern today.

And we are seeing more and more scam centers being created across the globe.

We don't know how many millions of people are in the scam centers, but we know on the small side we spot 80,000 people, and some of them are over 200,000 people.

That it's like a like a big college campus of individuals who've been kidnapped of all ages, young to old.

You could be on the streets and grabbed and kidnapped unfortunately and put in some of these scam centers.

And so we need to do is to come as a world together to say no more.

It's slavery right in our faces.

And it's shocking to me that we've allowed that and having the advanced technologies come together to say, here's where they are, we're not going to accept this anymore, and there's no excuse for it, and bringing, making sure those countries are aware that that's happening within their borders, and then they're given the tool set that they need to be able to take each of those down.

And finally, before I let you go, we know that we're all connected through technology.

We carry devices with us everywhere, whether we're talking about our smartphone, our devices, whether we're talking about laptops.

So for viewers out there or even parents, guardians who have gone through something like this, what would you say to them, because we know hindsight is 20/20 and prevention is key.

Absolutely.

Oh, I love that you just said that.

Hindsight is 20/20.

And Looking back at the kids who have gone missing, the number one thing that we can be is nonjudgmental, nonjudgmental to the families, nonjudgmental to the parents.

We have to just love on people, and that really is what's missing across the globe because everyone wants to, you know, automatically red flag the individuals, red flag the families, and we can't do that.

We have to help them find it.

The, oh man.

Can I share something with you?

Yeah.

So I was, I had a really interesting opportunity to speak with one of the godfathers of the dark web.

There's actually a few people who who have been in that position unfortunately, and he has had a religious change.

He was in jail for about 25 years, had a religious change, and now has children, and he said to me, he goes, Whatever I can do to help.

He said, But there is not a moment that I don't wake up in the morning saying, oh, I want to scam someone.

Now he didn't do some of the most evils in the world, but what he did do though is provide a space for all of them to collaborate together.

So we have this deep, dark network that's all collaborating together, giving each other badges, giving each other virtual high fives.

They've never met in person, but they are best friends. and work together in just very cohesively within this darkness and so we as light need to come in and say, OK, the darkness must need to go away, get an understanding of their world and really take what's, what's occurring there and on the physical world start to shut it down little by little.

So the collaboration across the globe is It's what they do the best and what we have to all come to the table and do even better because we're in the physical world.

We can come out and be with the family to say, no, I'm going to, I see this kid.

I see the app.

I see this little girl, she's missing.

I'm going to look around.

OK, all you have to do, look left, look right.

You've got your span.

This is your sphere of influence.

Great.

Now if you don't see her, that's fine, but at least you've tried.

At least you've made an effort to look for her.

And I mean there's 8 million kids.

Let's get them all back home to their parents.

And even though some of them come from poverty, that doesn't make their families love them any less.

Well, such an important conversation.

So I appreciate your time today.

Thank you so much for joining me and sharing your story as well as your insights with our audience.

Thank you so much for having me, and it's such a pleasure to be here and thank you for everything you're doing.

My pleasure.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

Every year, an estimated 8 million children go missing globally, a staggering figure that underscores the urgent need for initiatives aimed at child safety. Recently, Shawnna Hoffman, the CEO of the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), emphasized the power of technology in combating child exploitation during her appearance at the New York Stock Exchange and the United Nations General Assembly. With advanced tools and global collaboration, the ICMEC is set to make significant strides in finding and protecting these vulnerable children.

One of the key developments presented was the upcoming launch of the Global Missing Children Alert—an app designed to streamline the process of reporting missing children. When a child goes missing, parents can upload their child’s image and pertinent details directly into the system. This information is instantly transmitted to local law enforcement, who can respond quickly using geolocation technology.

The application not only verifies the missing child’s status but also sends alerts to nearby users within a 5 to 10-mile radius, ensuring that communities can mobilize quickly to aid in recovery efforts. This approach leverages AI-driven facial detection technology that focuses solely on locating missing children, thereby maintaining privacy and avoiding intrusive surveillance.

Hoffman highlights that the digital world has transformed how children interact with society but has also created new vulnerabilities. Unlike traditional borders, the digital landscape knows no boundaries, complicating efforts to track and recover missing children. By utilizing interconnected technologies, nations can collaborate more effectively, bridging gaps that traffickers often exploit.

Hoffman’s recent meeting with the Pope at the Vatican further emphasizes the need for collective action in child protection efforts. At the meeting, technology leaders from companies like OpenAI and Microsoft joined ICMEC to discuss a declaration focused on child dignity online. Their goal is to foster a united front against exploitation, urging nations to move past political barriers and prioritize the safety of children.

Despite advancements in technology, the challenge remains immense. Hoffman notes that larger issues, such as the rise of scam centers where kidnapped individuals are held, pose serious risks. Awareness of these centers and the support of local governments is crucial to dismantling these operations. As victims of trafficking are apprehended and held in these institutions, urgent intervention is needed to rescue them and provide safe refuge.

Technology alone cannot solve the issue; public involvement and community vigilance are essential. Hoffman encourages individuals to use their devices actively in the search for missing children. Simple acts, such as looking around your immediate area, can make significant differences in the outcomes of these cases. Raising awareness and fostering nonjudgmental attitudes toward families affected by child exploitation can potentially catalyze more community support and contributions to recovery efforts.

As we look toward the future, Hoffman’s committed focus on finding and protecting children through advanced technologies and international cooperation cannot be understated. The innovation seen in the Global Missing Children Alert is just one example of how we can harness technology to aid in safeguarding the most vulnerable members of our society.

In a world increasingly defined by digital engagement, everyone—parents, guardians, technology leaders, and lawmakers—must unite in this cause to secure each child’s rights and dignity. With ongoing efforts to raise awareness and implement new tools for protection, there is a real opportunity to change lives, restore hope, and reunite families.

For those wishing to contribute to this critical cause, consider getting involved with organizations like the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children or local child advocacy groups. Your participation, regardless of scale, can make a monumental difference in the lives of countless families facing the heartbreak of a missing child.

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