As sex trafficking in Texas reaches a new high, a software program touts the ability to track digital sex advertisements at a rate faster than the naked eye.

A startup company called XIX has teamed up with Dallas-based DeliverFund to provide automated tracking services, according to Fast Company. The service transcribes photos from sex-trafficking websites and identifies objects in certain photos to help evaluate the true messages of ads. 

Sex ads are said to include an average of three photos, and XIX can evaluate about 4,000 ads in 60 seconds. This is also the rate at which new ads make their debut online.

Kara Smith, a senior targeting analyst for DeliverFund saluted the unique skills that XIX has to offer.

“What we would have to do with XIX’s abilities would be to just go to the illicit website and scroll for hours and hours,” Smith said, according to Fast Company. “Their tool is very important because it gives us the ability to sift through millions of data points while looking for information more quickly.”

While there are only three people who take on this responsibility, DeliverFund has assisted with the arrest of four traffickers. After it beefed up its staff in 2018, the company helped police catch 19 traffickers and free 17 victims. 

As of September, DeliverFund has played a part in the capture of 25 traffickers and 64 perpetrators who paid for sex with minors. More than 50 victims were also released thanks to DeliverFund’s assistance and the XIX technology.

DeliverFund also helped with seizing Dallas-based Backpage.com, a well-known site that trafficked voluntary and involuntary sex workers. DeliverFund has also helped the Houston Police Department, and Smith said that working with law enforcement is what the business is all about.

“We just don’t go out there and start developing out cases unless we know we have law enforcement there to take the intelligence that we provide," Smith said. "They are door-kickers. They have the badge, and they have the ability to arrest those traffickers and save those victims.”