WanderShield
Anti-trafficking protection — Polaris hotline ended December 2025, FOSTA-SESTA 40% assault increase, 218K identified victims, DOJ $90M+ OVC grants.
Safety & PrivacyAbout
Polaris Project stopped operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline in December 2025 — the primary first-contact resource for trafficking survivors for over a decade. FOSTA-SESTA (2018) was intended to help trafficking survivors; it increased street-based sex worker assault rates by 40% by pushing activity underground and removing online safety tools. 218,000 trafficking victims were identified globally in 2022, with the US accounting for a significant portion. LGBTQ+ youth represent 20-40% of youth trafficking victims despite being 5-7% of the general youth population. DOJ's Office for Victims of Crime disbursed $90M+ in FY2024 trafficking response grants — WanderShield's exit planning infrastructure is fundable infrastructure. No existing app operates when the phone is visible — triple-tap WanderTag fires a silent alert sewn into clothing. No existing app builds a location history record for legal proceedings. The tool Polaris left behind.
Features
- Triple-tap WanderTag: silent alert, no visible phone use — works sewn into clothing
- Duress code: specific word anywhere in app fires silent alert — no phone handling required
- Fake screen / decoy mode: attacker sees normal-looking screen
- Covert photo upload with invisible GPS tagging — documented for legal proceedings
- Daily 'I'm safe' check-in + safe word system + location history building
- Document preservation: offsite, outside trafficker's control, timestamped
- Exit planning: financial emergency resources, shelter routing, legal documentation
- LoRa beacon: continuous location even with no cellular signal or compromised phone
- Family separation: reunification coordination over LoRa mesh
- Polaris hotline gap filled: resources now in the app, not dependent on a hotline that closed