Tech-based abuse can be a “cheap and invisible” way for a domestic violence perpetrator to make their victim’s life hell. A Canberra-based digital forensics company has developed a solution to help victims to take back control of their personal information.
Andrew Collins recalls the woman who came to him to check if her tech devices were being compromised by her ex-partner. Her hunch was right. Not only was her ex accessing information on her device, he was also compromising her father’s devices. This was happening despite the woman’s relationship with the man ending a decade ago.
Unfortunately, his tech-based abuse scenario – where a man harms or harasses a woman by accessing, deleting and manipulating her personal information, or blocks her access to it – isn’t unusual in Andrew’s work in digital forensics. In fact, tech-based coercive control is almost always a factor in family and domestic violence.
“It’s cheap, it’s invisible and doesn’t have the danger of getting close to someone and incurring an intervention order (IVO) violation…We sometimes see this going on for decades after the relationship ends.”
Andrew works almost exclusively with domestic violence (DV) victims since founding Nansen Digital Forensics with Rose MacDonald in 2018. He notes that 99% of Nansen’s cases involve female victims and male perpetrators. Rose’s 20 years as a police detective and in forensics, and Andrew’s experience in defence intelligence and tech capability, is a prime combination to tackle tech-based abuse. A third shareholder, developer Jacob Jarick, brings niche tech expertise.
It frustrates Andrew that in instances of tech-based abuse, it’s the woman who is forced to give up her phone or to learn safeguards. “They have to constantly compromise to the male behaviour.”
The team developed Chain-FS to help these women to maintain or get back control of their digital and personal information. The solution won the Not-for-Profit & Community category and the coveted Inspiration Award at the 2024 iAwards National Ceremony.
The challenge: Superior and affordable security
Chain-FS took four years to develop and is a vendor agnostic layer between blockchain and the cloud. It addresses two major problems when trying to secure information, Andrew explains. “Cloud storage is fundamentally insecure once someone has access,” Andrew says.
This means in DV cases, if a perpetrator accesses a woman’s username/ password or their phone, there’s no controls. “They can do whatever they want.” While blockchain is more secure, Andrew says it has rarely proved suitable beyond the fintech space. “It’s slow as a wet week – 15-plus minutes to write data – and ferociously expensive.”
Testing showed it would cost hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars for DV victims to use blockchain to store the necessary data. This data includes identity, financial, medical and legal records, information about property, leases and vehicles, CV and education details, as well as emergency contact information. With Chain-FS, even if a perpetrator was to gain access to the encryption key, they could only see or share the data. They can’t modify or delete any documents,
Clients set how long they want their files protected for and during this time, no one, not even the client or the Nansen team, can alter the documents. The client can access the documents and create a new version, but previous versions are saved.
Partnerships to ensure tech is fit for purpose
The team has formed key partnerships with law enforcement, as well as the Women’s Services Network, United Nations Women Australia and other domestic violence support agencies. Insights from these group have fed into the solution’s design and how they should use it. For example, the Chain-FS DV version doesn’t run a multifactor authentication in case the phone is compromised, and victims are advised to protect their information for at least a year.
Andrew says they are working with women’s DV and counselling organisations to offer Chain-FS (at no cost) sooner rather than later. “We’re aiming to introduce it where they’ve found evidence of abuse, or maybe they haven’t but suspect it, and the client is in a good mental state and is not yet in crisis.”
“It’s empowering women so ideally, they don’t become a victim. Or if they are experiencing [tech abuse] it allows them to take back agency of their lives.”
Through its partnership with UN Women, the team is taking the first steps to tackle the problem beyond Australia and is working with a South American countries Government for a large scale pilot for later this year.
Safeguards for retail version of world-first technology
Although Chain-FS first use case is focused on protecting the critical documents of DV victim-survivors, the team is planning to a general rollout to the public around the middle of the year.
Being a modern extensible technology, the team is also working on future uses including supply chain provenance for native foods, Indigenous cultural preservation and data governance and as a tool to disrupt modern slavery. The technology is on track for a full patent by mid-2025 from the Australian, European and US patent offices, Andrew says. “In terms of technology, there is nothing close to us in the world.”
As they move towards retail, how will the team ensure clients don’t use the “military grade” security to store criminal material, such as child abuse material? Andrew says they are working to get in front of this potential problem by equipping the retail version of Chain-FS with a feature that can scan a file before it comes in against a known database of child abuse material. “If it detects a child a abuse image, it will be an automatic notification to the police.”
iAward win offers “independent legitimacy” in front of investors
The team “absolutely loved” the full iAwards experience, from the relaxed and knowledgeable judges to the networking opportunities. Delighted just to get through to the National Ceremony, Andrew says he and Rose gave their pitch their “absolutely best shot” and then hoped for the best amid such “fierce competition”.
“When our name was called… Rose and I turned to each other and used language that would make a sailor blush!” Ahead of a seed funding round to develop the retail version, Andrew says the iAward wins have given Chain-FS “independent legitimacy” in front of investors who are lining up and asking for their pitch deck.
While Andrew and Rose are professionally and personally fulfilled helping DV victims of tech-based abuse take back control, Andrew wishes there wasn’t a need for their business. “In terms of domestic violence, we’re probably the only company in Australia who wants to be out of business and never see a repeat customer.”
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).