In the recent times, shocking acts of crime have left many of us feeling unsafe in the country. Stories of horror and brutality, particularly against women, are coming to the fore now. Security has become the latest buzzword. While the government scrambles to deal with the situation, developers are making use of the skill they know best– using technology to combat crime.
We bring you a list of apps/ solutions you could use.
Government
Telecom minister Kapil Sibal had earlier launched the emergency number ‘181’ for women in Delhi. They have now decided to expand the three-digit safety number to all the states of the country.
The government has written to the Chief Ministers of all the states to allot ‘181’ as the single emergency helpline number for women pan-India.
Kapil Sibal has further said that the government is working on a SOS wrist watch for the safety of the women. The watch will let women in distress send out an emergency signal along with the location of the person along with alerts to pre-fed numbers in the system. The watch is expected to cost between INR 500-700.
1. Savdhan
Savdhan is a simple missed call based emergency service. The user signs-up and syncs their account with either Facebook/Twitter and adds important phone numbers.
The service has two states I’m OK/I’m not Ok. In case the user feels unsafe they simply give a missed call to the pre-registered number and the system automatically alerts all of their contacts with a pre-defined text.
2. FightBack
An app by the Mahindra group’s firm CanvasM tracks the users location and sends emergency message to selected contacts and it is available for free download. The app is currently functional for the Android, Blackberry and Nokia devices.
Developed by Saurabh Moody, Suspects Registry is a service which helps report any act of misbehavior with women. The Suspects Registry Facebook community is helping promote a crowd-sourced solution to the problem.
The app is currently available only for the Android devices with work underway for the other OSes. The app helps to record the emergency situation along with the location to help others be informed to avoid the specific location at the reported time. The ability to record images, audio, video along with location details and other meta data helps to act as a proof against the suspect.
An Android app developed by Vibhor Gupta which is a digital repository and contains the emergency helpline numbers for a variety of services ranging from Women Safety & Shelter Homes to numbers for the bloodbanks, hospitals and chemists. The simple feature to allow users to call from within the app makes it simple and easy to use.
5. HelPls
Cross platform emergency app developed by the Varshyl Mobile Company for the iOS and the Android devices helps users during emergency or adverse situation and can work without a data connection also.
During the situation of emergency the app sends an SMS to four contacts along with the location details found via the geo maps. It automatically begins audio recording which can automatically be mailed to a preset email address. Along with that the app makes an automated call to the police helpline number ‘100’, which are the most crucial element in a situation like this. In case the user syncs his social media accounts ( Facebook/Twitter), the emergency update will be broadcasted there.
