Starting 2017, all mobile phones to have panic buttons

Taking a move forward for women safety in the country, it has been announced by the Indian Government that from 1^st January 2017, all mobiles will have a panic button installed in them. This was announced by the Women and Child Development Ministry in a meeting with the phone manufactures, about the feasibility of the panic buttons.

How will the panic button work?

1. To get started with, down the button in your phone. The owners with older phones can get the app by visiting the respective service centers.
2. After download, the app appears in the application list of the phone. It appears by the name Panic Button, by the icon PB.
3. After the application is completely set up, the icon will automatically change to a disguised version.
4. To access the app, visit the Calculate Icon in the app list.

When a user will log into this app for the first time, he/she will get a notification asking to feed itself with three distress numbers. When in distress, the user will have to switch on the app, and it will automatically send a message to the fed numbers. However, one needs to keep certain security concerns at bay while feeding the phone with the numbers. They are

• The motive of the panic button is to ensure your safety. So the numbers that you register in your phone, make sure they are in a position to act.
• Consider facts like if the contact you will add is in constant touch with his/her phone? Because, someone who has the habit of leaving their phones behind may not see your distress message for hours.
• Secondly, do not register numbers whose users are geographically distant from you.
• Also, the numbers that you register need to complement each other, so never register all the three numbers from the same house or company.
• Pick a person whose reputation will definitely help your rescue better. Like a lawyer.
• The SMS’s that your mobile network sends to the distress numbers are not private. That is, any communication that is made between the user of the Panic Button and the person at the other end is not private, and can be accessed by anybody.
• So, the group who is threatening you have any connection with the telecommunication companies, they will have an easy access to your location and messages, it will put the user and its contacts at a great risk.
• Hence, it is advisable to talk to your contacts before listing them in your phone, and mutually develop a code language. This would help to understand them to decode the distress message and act instantly.

According to some reports, this step was much in talk after the Dec 16’ Delhi rape case. Interestingly, this venture is a huge amount of money from the Nirbhaya fund, which was set up by the then finance minister P Chidambaram. Manufacturers have suggested that this panic button will also be introduced in the existing smart phones, as negotiated by the government.

“This is one of the key projects that will be funded through the Nirbhaya fund set up by the UPA government,” a related source mentioned. It took the India Government more than three years to announce a project devoted to women safety. But nonetheless, we have at least started.