Amnesty International launches a Panic Button smartphone app that aims to provide activists or human rights defenders the ability to get immediate help from their networks in the midst of an attack, kidnap or torture.
The Panic Button mobile app converts the smartphone into a secret-alarm device that the user-activist can activate immediately in case of emergency.
“The aim of the Panic Button is to increase protection for activists around the world who face the ever present threat of arrest, attack, kidnap and torture,” Tanya O’Carroll, Amnesty International’s technology and human rights officer, says in a statement.
By activating the mobile app, the smartphone alerts fellow activists of the danger the smartphone owner or their colleague is faced with, which gives them the opportunity to seek help faster.
“We have long known that the first hours after somebody’s arrest are the crucial window of opportunity for a network to make a difference to their colleague’s release—whether it be flooding the police station with calls, arranging a protest, or mobilizing lawyers and organizations like Amnesty International for a campaign of international pressure,” O’Carroll explains.
Even journalists who are always in the line of fire and are in great danger for the nature of their work can benefit from the app. In fact, both journalists and activists said during the beta testing that the app can bring about a positive difference in alleviating the daily risks of their jobs.
“We hope Panic Button will ensure future cases of unlawful detention in Sudan do not go undetected allowing us to mobilize to help more people,” says Sudan activist Ibrahim Alsafi, who was involved in the testing phase.
Aside from Sudan, app beta testing was also conducted in many other countries such as Brazil and Philippines.
“An application that can possibly save human rights defenders from abduction or illegal arrest is something I wouldn’t have thought possible,” says Miko Mendizabal, human rights defender in the Philippines who was also part of the beta testing.
There is no perfect app, however. Mendizabal says the organizers reminded them that the app might not be entirely dependable in places where telecommunications are limited.
Regardless, O’Carroll says the app is an important tool as well for lawyers and students, and just about anyone who might be in danger for their work or career.
Amnesty International developed the app, which is now accessible at the Google Play Store for public download worldwide, in collaboration with security or tech experts, activists, volunteers, and partners such as iilab, the engine room and Front Line Defenders. It is available in four languages and currently designed for Android mobile phones.
