Human trafficking is usually described in abstract statistics: 50 million people in modern slavery worldwide. SlaveryMap makes the crisis concrete and local, the same job it was built to do since June 1, 2008.
Not For Sale was founded in 2007 after co-founder David Batstone discovered that a Bay Area restaurant he ate at regularly was trafficking its own kitchen and wait staff. The case became national news, and it became personal: if slavery could hide inside a place he ate dinner every week, it could hide anywhere. At the time, most Americans still thought of slavery as history. SlaveryMap, launched June 1, 2008, was built to prove otherwise, one documented case at a time.
SlaveryMap ran on a philosophy Batstone called "Open Source Activism," borrowed from the tech industry: give people tools, not rules, and let local action connect to a global movement. Anyone could submit a case they'd seen or uncovered, and the map grew the way an open encyclopedia grows, case by case, refined by volunteers and editors. It drew interest from as far as the US Air Force Academy, one of the first tools that let ordinary people, not just researchers, put a place and a face to modern-day slavery in their own communities.
By March 2016, SlaveryMap had logged 1,774 reports since launch. Not long after, the original site went quiet. Ten years later, it's back online, because the people who kept giving to Not For Sale never stopped believing this tool mattered.
Not For Sale's work now runs on three tracks: people, planet, and social innovation. Internal notes from as early as 2010 were already using "people" and "planet" as working categories, years before "social innovation" had a name of its own. SlaveryMap came first. It remains the clearest example of what social innovation means here: not a program handed down from headquarters, but a tool that puts the ability to see the problem, and to act on it, directly in people's hands.
Every decision behind SlaveryMap starts with the same question: does this put a survivor at risk? Cases are submitted by signed-in community members from credible news outlets, law enforcement and court records, and NGO reports. Before a case publishes, two other community members independently review it, to confirm the facts and to strip out anything that could identify or endanger the person behind them. Not For Sale sets the source standard and builds the platform; the community verifies. Locations are never shown precisely; every point on the map is generalized to city level by default. Verification here isn't a formality. It's the survivor's first line of protection, and nothing goes live until it clears that bar.
Fighting trafficking is a collective effort, and it always has been for this project. By making verified, sourced data public, SlaveryMap puts investigative insight in many hands, while keeping survivor safety and privacy as the first constraint. Soon, that collective spirit comes fully back: the community is being invited to help find and add new cases again, the same instinct that built this map in the first place.
Last updated: 15 September 2026
SlaveryMap is a project of Not For Sale ("we", "us"). This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, and the choices you have. We treat privacy as a first-order concern: the map itself never publishes precise locations or identifying details about the people behind documented cases.
We do not ask the public for names, payment details, or sensitive personal information, and we do not build advertising profiles.
We share limited data with providers who process it on our behalf: our email provider (Brevo) for the launch list, our authentication provider (Clerk) for team accounts, and our hosting and database providers (Vercel and Neon). They act under contract and only to provide their service.
We keep launch-list emails until the launch concludes or you unsubscribe, whichever comes first. Team account and audit records are kept for as long as the account is active and as needed for security and accountability.
We use only the cookies needed to run the site (for example, to keep signed-in team members authenticated and to remember your light or dark theme). We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
The site is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
We may update this policy; we will revise the date above when we do. Material changes will be highlighted on this page.
Questions about privacy? Email privacy@wearenotforsale.org.
Last updated: 15 September 2026
SlaveryMap is provided by Not For Sale as a public-interest research and awareness tool. By using the site, you agree to these terms.
Cases are drawn from public sources and reviewed before publication, but the map is provided "as is" for information and awareness. It is not legal advice, and it is not a register of individuals. Locations shown are deliberately generalized and must not be treated as precise.
Case summaries cite their sources. Referenced third-party materials remain the property of their respective owners. If you believe a case is inaccurate or raises a safety concern, please contact us so we can review it.
The admin area is restricted to authorized Not For Sale team members. Access is granted at our discretion and may be revoked.
To the extent permitted by law, we disclaim warranties of accuracy or fitness for a particular purpose and are not liable for how the information is used. Your use of the site is at your own discretion.
We may update these terms; the date above reflects the current version.
Questions? Email hello@wearenotforsale.org.