Kieran talks with Anjana Rajan, chief technology officer for Polaris, about the work the not-for-profit does to fight human trafficking, including having helped more than 30,000 trafficking survivors via its national hotline.

In looking ahead, Anjana talks about the need to recreate the Internet to end its use by the powerful to exploit the vulnerable, a reality made only worse by the accelerated digitalization of life in the wake of COVID-19. Anjana says the current debate about Web 3, the next generation of the Internet, offers us all a chance to create a better virtual world or to further the Web’s capacity to be used for exploitation.

“As a cryptographer, I largely believe in the potential of Web 3 to help restore economic justice to victims and survivors of human trafficking,” Anjana says, “but as a human trafficking expert, I think Web 3 only offers that possibility, not the guarantee.”