Title 34NavyRelease 119-83

§21115 National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System

Title 34 › Subtitle Subtitle II— Protection of Children and Other Persons › Chapter 211— COMBATING CHILD EXPLOITATION › Subchapter I— NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION PREVENTION AND INTERDICTION › § 21115

Last updated Apr 18, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Attorney General may create a National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System that follows federal privacy rules. The system can only be used for crimes that involve the Internet and child exploitation. Its goal is to help law enforcement investigate online child exploitation, share information, and gather data on how big the problem is. The system will serve credentialed law enforcement agencies that are allowed to investigate child exploitation: federal agencies, the ICAC Task Force Program, state, local, and tribal agencies, and foreign agencies if approved by the Attorney General. It will be run by the Department of Justice or a credentialed agency and may charge a small fee. The system must let agencies add and access data to resolve overlapping cases, provide undercover online tools for investigations, support needed software and network capabilities, and either host investigation software or give a secure link to an approved government-hosted system. Any child-victim cases that software can detect locally must be shared right away with participating agencies. At least every 30 days the system must identify high-priority suspects and report them to participants. It must also make overall statistics on child pornography trafficking and exploitation available for the National Strategy. Participating agencies may still share leads or stats under their own state or local laws. A 10-member steering committee will advise on the program and planning, with representatives from ICAC task forces, DOJ information services, the hosting agency, FBI and ICE programs, the Postal Inspection Service, and two DOJ members. Congress authorized $2,000,000 each year for fiscal years 2009 through 2016 for this work.

Full Legal Text

Title 34, §21115

Navy — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Attorney General may establish, consistent with all existing Federal laws relating to the protection of privacy, a National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System. The system shall not be used to search for or obtain any information that does not involve the use of the Internet to facilitate child exploitation.
(b)It is the purpose and intent of Congress that the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System established in subsection (a) is intended to facilitate online law enforcement investigations of child exploitation, information sharing, and the capacity to collect and aggregate data on the extent of the problems of child exploitation.
(c)The National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System established under subsection (a) shall be dedicated to assisting and supporting credentialed law enforcement agencies authorized to investigate child exploitation in accordance with Federal, State, local, and tribal laws, including by providing assistance and support to—
(1)Federal agencies investigating and prosecuting child exploitation;
(2)the ICAC Task Force Program established under section 21112 of this title;
(3)State, local, and tribal agencies investigating and prosecuting child exploitation; and
(4)foreign or international law enforcement agencies, subject to approval by the Attorney General.
(d)The National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System established under subsection (a)—
(1)shall be housed and maintained within the Department of Justice or a credentialed law enforcement agency;
(2)shall be made available for a nominal charge to support credentialed law enforcement agencies in accordance with subsection (c); and
(3)shall—
(A)allow Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies and ICAC task forces investigating and prosecuting child exploitation to contribute and access data for use in resolving case conflicts;
(B)provide, directly or in partnership with a credentialed law enforcement agency, a dynamic undercover infrastructure to facilitate online law enforcement investigations of child exploitation;
(C)facilitate the development of essential software and network capability for law enforcement participants; and
(D)provide software or direct hosting and support for online investigations of child exploitation activities, or, in the alternative, provide users with a secure connection to an alternative system that provides such capabilities, provided that the system is hosted within a governmental agency or a credentialed law enforcement agency.
(e)(1)The National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System established under subsection (a) shall ensure the following:
(A)All child exploitation cases involving local child victims that are reasonably detectable using available software and data are, immediately upon their detection, made available to participating law enforcement agencies.
(B)Every 30 days, at minimum, the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System shall—
(i)identify high-priority suspects, as such suspects are determined by indicators of seriousness of offense or dangerousness to the community or a potential local victim; and
(ii)report all such identified high-priority suspects to participating law enforcement agencies.
(C)Any statistical data indicating the overall magnitude of child pornography trafficking and child exploitation in the United States and internationally is made available and included in the National Strategy, as is required under section 21111(c)(16) of this title.
(2)Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the ability of participating law enforcement agencies to disseminate investigative leads or statistical information in accordance with State and local laws.
(f)The National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System established under subsection (a) shall develop, deploy, and maintain an integrated technology and training program that provides—
(1)a secure, online system for Federal law enforcement agencies, ICAC task forces, and other State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies for use in resolving case conflicts, as provided in subsection (d);
(2)a secure system enabling online communication and collaboration by Federal law enforcement agencies, ICAC task forces, and other State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies regarding ongoing investigations, investigatory techniques, best practices, and any other relevant news and professional information;
(3)a secure online data storage and analysis system for use by Federal law enforcement agencies, ICAC task forces, and other State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies;
(4)secure connections or interaction with State and local law enforcement computer networks, consistent with reasonable and established security protocols and guidelines;
(5)guidelines for use of the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System by Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and ICAC task forces; and
(6)training and technical assistance on the use of the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System by Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and ICAC task forces.
(g)The Attorney General shall establish a National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System Steering Committee to provide guidance to the Network relating to the program under subsection (f), and to assist in the development of strategic plans for the System. The Steering Committee shall consist of 10 members with expertise in child exploitation prevention and interdiction prosecution, investigation, or prevention, including—
(1)3 representatives elected by the local directors of the ICAC task forces, such representatives shall represent different geographic regions of the country;
(2)1 representative of the Department of Justice Office of Information Services;
(3)1 representative from the law enforcement agency having primary responsibility for hosting and maintaining the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System;
(4)1 representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Innocent Images National Initiative or Regional Computer Forensic Lab program;
(5)1 representative of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Cyber Crimes Center;
(6)1 representative of the United States Postal Inspection Service; and
(7)2 representatives of the Department of Justice.
(h)There are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2016, $2,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 17615 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 119–60, § 8202(e)(1), substituted “may establish” for “shall establish”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 119–60, § 8202(e)(2), substituted “facilitate” for “continue and build upon Operation Fairplay developed by the Wyoming Attorney General’s office, which has established a secure, dynamic undercover infrastructure that has facilitated”. Subsec. (g)(3) to (8). Pub. L. 119–60, § 8202(e)(3), redesignated pars. (4) to (8) as (3) to (7), respectively; in par. (7), substituted “2 representatives” for “1 representative”; and struck out former par. (3) which read as follows: “1 representative from Operation Fairplay, currently hosted at the Wyoming Office of the Attorney General;”. 2012—Subsec. (e)(1)(B)(i). Pub. L. 112–206 struck out “the volume of suspected criminal activity or other” before “indicators of seriousness”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

34 U.S.C. § 21115

Title 34Navy

Last Updated

Apr 18, 2026

Release point: 119-83