Panic Button App Review III – The accidental distress call

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I want to laugh so hard at the fact that I actually predicted what I am about to write about. In my first review I stated that I could see something going wrong with the Amnesty International Panic Button App. I stated that we have all made accidental pocket dials so it is only a matter of time until an accidental distress signal is sent. Low and behold that is how my poor parents were shocked this fine Monday morning.

I mentioned the problem I felt this app would face would be with the slide unlock function on the android phones of today. I decided to go to the Post Office this morning and put my phone into a pouch on my wallet. Upon arriving home I got a phone call from my mom ‘Are you in trouble?’. I respond ‘No why? Did you get a bad feeling?’. She informs me that her, my dad and boyfriend all received a distress signal.

I began to apologise profusely for the false alarm and proceed to let everyone know that I am in fact alive and okay. At no point had I opened my wallet or touched my phone so the concern I had in the beginning with the slide action happened to be true. Somehow the touch sensitive screen rubbed against my wallets fabric and opened the app and pushed buttons. As crazy as this sounds to have occurred so perfectly, it did.

There is no reason to believe it will not happen again. I was tempted to uninstall this app and told my parents this after apologising profusely for giving them such a massive fright. They made a very wise point and said that if it did anything it just proved that the app works. They were sent my location as well so they knew where I would have been. It even went as far as contacting my boyfriend on Viber as his text would not go through.

The advise that I would give however is that the app has to be opened with a passkey, just to prevent the touch screen from doing its own thing. It causes quite the scare when the panic button is activated by accident. By adding a simple pass key of even two numbers it could prevent this from happening.

Amnesty International’s App is still a brilliant idea and has been tested to work, even if it was not intentional. Luckily I had told my contacts that they were on the list so they were fully aware of what was going on. Well done to Amnesty International, this is a great way to notify the ones you love that you are in trouble. It is essential that this becomes a must on everyone’s phone and that they really consider the passkey option. This simple adjustment would make things run a lot smoother especially when our phones are so smart that they do their own thing.

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Panic Button App Review II – The right app for those in dangerous environments

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The Panic Button App released by Amnesty International has a far greater purpose than just helping us out in a bind. The inspiration behind this idea was that there were far too many situations where human activists where being kidnapped, falsely arrested or abducted. Amnesty International had no way of getting in touch with these people without a mountain of paperwork and officials to answer to. In many countries the authorities have jacked up their surveillance efforts in order to capture and torture these human rights groups at meetings or protests.

On a daily basis people’s lives are being unnecessarily put in jeopardy because of their belief systems or need to protect others who don’t have a voice. It is for this reason that the creation of this app was vital. This occurs every day in so many different countries that we are kept oblivious to. It was not solely designed for activists but for anyone who is exposed to dangerous environments daily. This could be a journalist, lawyer or anyone living in an oppressive regime.

The first few hours of someone being falsely attacked, imprisoned or kidnapped is vital and that is common knowledge by now. This app is disguised as a calculator on your smart phone and when you tap the button five times or the power button, a call for help is sent. You select your three contacts and it is advised that you ensure your contacts are reliable and aware of being on your help list.

There are two very strong winning factors to this app, the lesser being it is less than 1Mb so does not require much memory space being used. The best element however being that of when your distress message is sent, so is your phone’s geo-location. It updates every five minutes with your location until the battery dies.

A downfall to this though is that you may only get the chance to send one emergency signal. Most attackers would know that you take the persons personal belongings and destroy them. This is unless they feel the need to contact someone to discuss ransom. In my country cellphone theft happens every second and these thieves know to turn off the phone and destroy the sim card. This is petty crime but if they think this way, who can say that the authorities who attack activists would not know this.

Amnesty International can be commended on really using technology to advance the safety of those who are trying to do the right thing. There is no doubt in my mind that so many more lives will be saved for this app being made. It is an asset to anyone who works in a dangerous environment no matter what that may be. For myself living in a country with a very high crime rate and kidnappings on the rise, this app is essential. The design is clever and well hidden and even if you only get to send one distress signal, it is one you would have not had before.

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