Callisto (project)

Callisto is a nonprofit US organization, created by Jess Ladd, aimed at supporting survivors of sexual assault and privately identifying repeat perpetrators.[1] The organization has developed a series of tools, first "Callisto Campus", followed by "Callisto Expansion", and later "Callisto Vault". "Callisto Vault" allows users to (1) save a private time-stamped record of their assault, or (2) enter into the Callisto "matching escrow", a secure and private serial offender detection system. Users of the matching escrow enter information about their assailant, and if another user enters information about the same perpetrator, both users are connected to a pro bono attorney to help them decide what to do next. According to a 2022 report, a match triggers only emails to two lawyers, each with the contact details of one survivor but not naming the alleged perpetrator; the lawyers then contact the survivors to inform them of the match and offer assistance for any action they wish to take.[2] Callisto Vault is available to individuals (students and employees) on a selection of college campuses, and offered only in the US.[3]

History

Jess Ladd incorporated the nonprofit Sexual Health Innovations (SHI) in 2011, which a mission to create technology to promote sexual health and wellbeing in the United States.[4] Callisto was originally one of several products of SHI.[5] The first iteration of the system, "Callisto Campus", launched in 2015.[6] This original version contained a feature to send electronic reports to college campus Title IX Coordinators at partnering schools, and did not involve the pro bono legal network that Callisto started using in Callisto Expansion and Callisto Vault.[7] In 2016, SHI was renamed to Callisto, and its organizational mission was changed to focus on sexual assault.[8] In 2018, Callisto launched "Callisto Expansion", a pilot program focused on sexual harassment and assault in the tech industry.[9] This new system connected survivors of serial offenders with free attorneys in event of a "match", rather than administrators at the institution where the violation took place.[9] Since then, the technology and ideas from the tech-industry pilot have been incorporated into a new version of the product ("Callisto Vault") focused on college campuses.[10] Callisto has stopped expanding its original "Callisto Campus" product, but still enables survivors who created timestamped records in the old system to access them. "Callisto Vault" continues to expand across college campuses in the US.

Callisto Records

If users create a private record of their assault, they have the opportunity to be in an environment they feel comfortable in (e.g. at home). The users are encouraged to take breaks so that they do not become overwhelmed. The record does not have to be in chronological order.[11] No one will be able to access the record, unless the user grants access.[1] Callisto's approach is sensitive to trauma when prompting survivors to create this time-stamped record.

Callisto Matching Escrow

If a user decides to enter their perpetrator into Callisto's matching escrow, they are asked to enter unique identifying details of their assailant, such as social media handle or phone number (encryption keeps the identities of the survivor and the perpetrator encrypted, not identifiable even if the database is hacked).[11]

Callisto Security

Callisto uses modern techniques that allow data to be shared without those sharing revealing any personal information to each other; the same techniques permit two banks to find whether they are being defrauded by the same person, without either bank breaking data protection laws. Techniques of this sort are referred to as Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs).[2] Not even Callisto engineers can decrypt Callisto Vault's timestamped records or view information about the perpetrators entered into the matching escrow.

References
  1. Ayres, Ian (9 October 2015). "Meet Callisto, the Tinder-like platform that aims to fight sexual assault (Posted 2015-10-09 23:39:05): The Callisto platform uses game theory to overcome a major barrier to reporting". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  2. Bellos, Alex (29 October 2022). "Can a new form of cryptography solve the internet's privacy problem?". The Guardian.
  3. "Terms of Service". Callisto. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. "Jessica Ladd | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker". www.ashoka.org. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  5. Davis, Chyna Inez. "Project Callisto: SJU Adopts Sexual Assault Reporting System". The Torch. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  6. Schwartz, Ariel. "A genius 'Tinder-like' platform could help stop sexual assaults on college campuses". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  7. Ladd, Jessica (2016-03-16), The reporting system that sexual assault survivors want, retrieved 2023-04-11
  8. https://www.linkedin.com/company/sexual-health-innovations/
  9. McHugh, Jess. "An Online Tool to Catch Workplace Sexual Predators". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  10. "Mission + Vision". Callisto. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  11. Liu, Heidi (May 2018). "WHEN WHISPERS ENTER THE CLOUD: EVALUATING TECHNOLOGY TO PREVENT AND REPORT SEXUAL ASSAULT". Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. 31: 939–963.
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