Israel Matzav

The kidnap app

Israeli technologists are developing a phone application that will allow persons in distress to notify authorities of their whereabouts by pressing a panic button.

A new smartphone app to help people from getting kidnapped is currently being developed in Israel, Channel 2 reported.

As Israeli police and security forces search for three missing Israeli teenagers, believed to be kidnapped in the West Bank – the Samaria Regional Council is working on an app that will enable people in danger to report their location to authorities. The council has reportedly hired a company to upgrade a current app already in use – so that rather than contacting police to report your whereabouts during an emergency – you can transmit your location with a push of a button on the phone.

The app alerts authorities to a person's specific location in time of need by triggering the phone's GPS system. If in danger, the app transmits an instant SMS as well as a specific place. It continues to send signals to authorities who will then notify security forces, without the person having to call.

It's sad that this is necessary, but why didn't anyone think of it before?

Labels: Israeli high tech, kidnapping, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:16 AM