Protect HER: New smartphone app launched on trial basis

A smartphone application — Protect HER — was launched on trial basis on Saturday. It provides users with a simple distress activation system to contact law enforcement agencies and special hotlines during times of perceived danger. The app will be formally launched after the developer is satisfied that there are no technical glitches in it.

Rajiv Uttamchandani, founder of International Society for Human Rights (ISSHR) collaborated with UP Mahila Samman Prakosth, which in turn has collaborated with ‘Nai Asha’ on the issues of checking human trafficking. Sutapa Sanyal, DG, UP Mahila Samman Prakosth, Ashish Srivastava and Vinita Grewal, co-founders of Nai Asha were present at the trial launch of the app.

The app can be activated in one of the three ways – by pressing the power button of a phone rapidly three times, by shaking the phone vigorously and by launching the application and pressing the ‘HELP’ tab. The application uploads live audio/video recording along with GPS coordinates in a centralised cloud server to which Mahila Samman Prakosth and Nai Asha have exclusive access. The app, effective all over India, also automatically dials the 1149 hotline for live phone calls during emergency and sends a distress text / email with GPS coordinates to the user’s chosen emergency contacts (up to six numbers can be entered). It automatically covers the police stations/ control room numbers of other states. It can be easily downloaded free from the Google play store.

The application was formulated and conceptualised by Rajiv Uttamchandani, who is an astrophysicist, professor and a social entrepreneur based in the US. It was further designed by Vikas Sethi, chief creative officer at ISSHR and programmed by Harish Sharma, chief information technology officer, ISSHR.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Uttamchandani said, “Protect HER is an application, which not only sends location coordinates of the crime spot but also preserves evidence in the form of audio/video recording.”

Vinita Grewal said it would give more freedom to women.

The International STEM Society for Human Rights is a US based non-profit organisation dedicated to the application of modern science and technology for addressing the needs relevant to women’s rights.

The International STEM (science technology engineering mathematics) Society for Human Rights was founded on the premise that global and collective understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics could be employed to make substantial contributions in solving human rights issues across the globe.

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