{"id":1864,"date":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/19\/why-data-sleuths-are-archiving-the-jeffrey-epstein-files-we-want-to-provide-some-clarity\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","slug":"why-data-sleuths-are-archiving-the-jeffrey-epstein-files-we-want-to-provide-some-clarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=1864","title":{"rendered":"Why data sleuths are archiving the Jeffrey Epstein files: \u2018We want to provide some clarity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"2736fd0a-a46e-4e62-bc3e-d07a36d37fad\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jeffrey Epstein reclines in a wicker chair outdoors, holding a light blue garment against his chest\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9f8f735a76a9ef64f649265574b1f87f74a9d3a3\/0_0_1908_1431\/master\/1908.png?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"348.75\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jeffrey Epstein in a photo released by the Department of Justice.<\/span> Photograph: Department of Justice<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"2736fd0a-a46e-4e62-bc3e-d07a36d37fad\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jeffrey Epstein in a photo released by the Department of Justice.<\/span> Photograph: Department of Justice<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Why data sleuths are archiving the Jeffrey Epstein files: \u2018We want to provide some clarity\u2019<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-b3fmmo\">\n<p>Tommy Carstensen oversees one of the most sophisticated archives of Epstein materials, while Tristan Lee\u2019s database allows searches of faces who appear in the files<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:500\" class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">B<\/span>efore the US Department of Justice (DoJ) missed a legally mandated, December 2025 deadline to release unclassified files related to the prosecution of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/jeffrey-epstein\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>, the Denmark-based data scientist and bioinformatician Tommy Carstensen was not especially concerned with the case of the accused sex trafficker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI hadn\u2019t even watched the Netflix documentary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt did not interest me because I thought he was \u2018just\u2019 another monetarily wealthy pedophile,\u201d he added, noting the only Epstein associates he was aware of were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ghislaine-maxwell\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a> and Britain\u2019s then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk\/prince-andrew\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Prince Andrew<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Now Carstensen oversees one of the internet\u2019s most sophisticated <a href=\"https:\/\/tommycarstensen.com\/epstein\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">archives<\/a> of material on Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial. He has published interactive graphics of the financier\u2019s properties and financial transactions, an analysis of over 1m documents released by the DoJ that groups them into subject areas, court records, transcripts of audio and video files from the releases, and a facial recognition tool that lets anyone upload an image of a face to see if it appears in any images in the files.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He spends as much as 50 hours per week maintaining the archive, on top of a full-time job, he said. <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pmolpmol.bsky.social\/post\/3melckzswws2k\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Journalists<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HackingButLegal\/status\/2028308474493382917\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">researchers<\/a> have praised his efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Carstensen was motivated to build the archive after lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/dec\/20\/trump-justice-department-legal-threats-epstein-files-release\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">accused<\/a> the justice department in December of failing to comply with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/4405\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">law<\/a> that mandated the declassification and release of files related to Epstein to the maximum extent possible by 19 December 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Volunteer sleuths like Carstensen, who also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/08\/18\/1028527768\/the-fbi-keeps-using-clues-from-volunteer-sleuths-to-find-the-jan-6-capitol-riote\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">joined<\/a> online efforts to identify participants in the January 6 insurrection earlier this decade, are not alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">An increasing number of journalists, researchers and activists have applied technical analyses to the Epstein files that draw out information not readily available in the DoJ\u2019s raw dumps of material.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The latest is a searchable <a href=\"https:\/\/epstein.photos\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">database<\/a> of faces of individuals who appear in original images in the Epstein files, <a href=\"https:\/\/decoherence.media\/we-identified-more-than-400-people-in-photos-from-the-epstein-files\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">published<\/a> earlier this month by the non-profit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semafor.com\/article\/10\/26\/2025\/data-journalists-start-news-site-to-track-extremist-movements\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Decoherence Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The founder, Tristan Lee, said the new database, which also includes a visualization that shows people who appear in the Epstein files, reveals images of more than 100 individuals who are not mentioned in Epstein\u2019s email files and nearly 200 who have not been reported on, among them a Hollywood agent and the head of a large fitness chain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Appearing in the Epstein records does not indicate any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Faces in the database were identified in part using facial recognition technology, notably with Amazon web services\u2019 Rekognition. Lee said he adhered to Rekognition\u2019s recommended 99% similarity threshold for law enforcement matters, essentially ruling out all but exact matches in order to screen out false positives. Rekognition also had useful features, including the ability to recognize public figures and detect nudity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Considerations about the technology\u2019s known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2025\/aug\/08\/facial-recognition-technology-discriminates-against-people-of-colour\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">shortcomings<\/a> were also weighed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cFacial recognition models are notoriously less reliable for non-white faces, so there were multiple cases where we discarded a match because we weren\u2019t confident in it,\u201d he said. IDs have also been double checked with multiple recognition models and manually.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While the technology has drawn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/privacy-technology\/when-it-comes-to-facial-recognition-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-magic-number\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">criticism<\/a> and concern for its potential use in surveillance, Lee said \u201cEpstein\u2019s network [is] particularly well-suited for using facial recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cMany of the people in Epstein\u2019s network are notable in some way, prominent enough to have news articles written about them or be featured on company websites,\u201d he noted, alluding to the vast amount of material that can be used to identify individuals in these cases. \u201cThe second factor is that Epstein\u2019s network contains multiple well-defined social circles. The third is that we have nearly 20 years of Epstein\u2019s emails and communications, so matches can be cross-checked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/31\/us\/epstein-trump-gates-musk-tisch-andrew.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">one previously identified person<\/a> that the new database of faces uncovered additional material on is Google co-founder Sergey Brin. <a href=\"https:\/\/epstein.photos\/search\/people\/person_598\/?photo=EFTA00254398-00050.webp\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Three<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/epstein.photos\/search\/people\/person_598\/?photo=EFTA00254398-00049.webp\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">undated<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/epstein.photos\/search\/people\/person_598\/?photo=EFTA00254398-00046.webp\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">photographs<\/a> in Epstein\u2019s files that Decoherence identified show Brin, who remains a board member at Google parent Alphabet, at a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luxury-executive.com\/blog\/guana-island\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> resort<\/a> on Guana Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">On Thursday, 28 December 2006, Epstein\u2019s associate Maxwell <a href=\"http:\/\/x\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">emailed him<\/a> stating that Brin would be on Guana. Epstein inquired as to the timing of his visit, saying he would be there on \u201cSaturday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Brin, who court documents suggest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/finance\/jeffrey-epstein-advised-sergey-brin-with-tax-shelter-353cad20\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">used Epstein<\/a> for tax advice, did not reply to a request for comment made through Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Lee was motivated to build the database, he said, because \u201cthere\u2019s still so much confusion about who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/jeffrey-epstein\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> was, who was in his network, and what his crimes were. I\u2019ve seen viral TikTok videos about how Epstein was actually a cannibal, or elaborate conspiracy theories linking unrelated people to him. We wanted to provide some clarity, to help regular people, as well as journalists and policymakers, better understand who is actually part of Epstein\u2019s social circle, and how these elite networks of power and influence actually operate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In the course of documenting those networks, researchers have also had to contend with the DoJ previously removing or retroactively redacting documents, in some cases because they had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn0k65pnxjxo\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">erroneously failed<\/a> to redact identifying information on victims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Carstensen wrote a code to monitor the DoJ website for changes, and maintains a list of victim names and names of victims\u2019 family members who are automatically redacted from his archive. Images of known survivor\u2019s faces, as well as minors, are also redacted, and he has been responsive to takedown requests from survivors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe DoJ did a disgraceful job with redactions,\u201d said Lee. \u201cThe worst example I saw was that they released nearly 100 naked photos of one outspoken victim.\u201d While the DoJ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/06\/nx-s1-5702692\/epstein-files-doj-trump-clinton-oversight\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">conceded<\/a> it made some errors during the release of the files, officials maintain they have ultimately complied with Epstein Files Transparency Act. A departmental watchdog is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/justice-department-watchdog-probes-compliance-epstein-act-rcna341655\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">investigating<\/a> the issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Emma Best, a co-founder of Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS), which publishes leaked and hacked datasets, has been particularly careful in their approach to an archive of more than 20,000 unredacted emails from Epstein\u2019s Yahoo account that the group obtained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">DDoS has only made the complete archive available to vetted researchers and journalists, which has <a href=\"https:\/\/zeteo.com\/p\/epstein-kindle-books-pedophilia-lolita-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">resulted<\/a> in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2025\/12\/13\/new-york-times-reporter-pitched-epstein-interview-on-your-terms\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">wide<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.levernews.com\/businessman-asked-epstein-for-elon-musk-connection-leaked-emails-show\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">range<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropsitenews.com\/p\/epstein-emails-underage-girls-federal-investigation-acosta-dershowitz\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reports<\/a> on and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.letemps.ch\/suisse\/le-reseau-de-jeffrey-epstein-s-etendait-jusqu-en-suisse\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">revelations<\/a> about Epstein\u2019s personal and business dealings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe\u2019ve kept the standard to access the Epstein emails higher than usual for many other datasets because it\u2019s especially sensitive and salacious,\u201d Best said, noting that those who are cleared to access the files are \u201conly to republish emails which are relevant to their reporting, and that unless it can be determined otherwise the assumption should be that people in the emails are potential victims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Yahoo emails, with redactions to protect victims and minors in accordance with DDoS\u2019s wishes, are being released by <a href=\"https:\/\/jmail.world\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Jmail<\/a>, a browser-based archive of Epstein\u2019s emails and other files from the DoJ and other sources developed by a group of volunteer tech workers and engineers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Added Best: \u201cWe\u2019ve been fortunate that most journalists understand the duty we have to Epstein\u2019s survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/jeffrey-epstein\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/ghislaine-maxwell\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/features\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Why%20data%20sleuths%20are%20archiving%20the%20Jeffrey%20Epstein%20files:%20%E2%80%98We%20want%20to%20provide%20some%20clarity%E2%80%99&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/jeffrey-epstein-files-data-sleuths-archives?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F19%2Fjeffrey-epstein-files-data-sleuths-archives&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/jeffrey-epstein-files-data-sleuths-archives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeffrey Epstein in a photo released by the Department of Justice. Photograph: Department of Justice View image in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}