TECH BREAK: 5 critical personal safety apps to have

Whether traveling to a new city, trudging through a dangerous neighbourhood or attending a party at night personal safety is critical. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Created by Usalama Tech Group Limited, the personal safety app allows you to set three predefined friends or family members and send emergency alerts if in distress.
  • The app utilises GPS to capture the exact location where you are.
  • In addition to the scenario of the distress, your location info is also sent to the three contacts preselected.

Whether traveling to a new city, trudging through a dangerous neighbourhood or attending a party at night personal safety is critical.

While there are so many things you can do to keep yourself safe some of the handiest are within your grasp.

Through the following apps you can actually keep yourself safe, alert family and friends when entering volatile locations or situations, call an ambulance or the authorities, among others.

MY SAFETIPIN

Launched around March 2016, My SafetiPin has women safety in mind. The personal safety app ensures a woman is able to ascertain the safety of a place as per the area's safety score.

By allowing the app to run automatically, it will be working on the background and checking the safety of the location you have found yourself.

The app then sends an alert allowing you to invite specific family members or friends to track your movements for security reasons.

Safest routes to use are provided and once you choose the best of them you will then be directed to your destination via Google maps. Before you leave for that party, visit a foreign town or move house the app lets you know the safety of the new neighbourhood.   

Usalama

Created by Usalama Tech Group Limited, the personal safety app allows you to set three predefined friends or family members and send emergency alerts if in distress.

The app utilises GPS to capture the exact location where you are. In addition to the scenario of the distress, your location info is also sent to the three contacts preselected.

Some of its unique features include Walk With Me allowing different users of the app to keep in touch with one another as they move around. Usalama Around allows users of the app to connect and view other users around them over a 200-metre radius.

News Alerts features is perfect for sharing and receiving criminal activity and crime news. Time features allows users to set automated alerts in case one is entering a risky neighbourhood. Crime Distress Call gives you a chance to communicate fast with family or friends while in a crime situation. Apart from personalised safety, Usalama also comes with an estate option to keep your neighbourhood safe.

KENYA RED CROSS (KRCS) APP

Great app to have not only to receive emergency news and alerts, call an ambulance anytime 24/7 or receive updates on events occurring across the country, but also  know how to donate blood, apply for KRCS membership or become one of the volunteers in service for humanity. The app also allows you to support Red Cross efforts through donations and enrolling in trainings to be an expert in disaster management, emergencies, first aid and fire safety, among others.  

BONGA APP

Personal safety app by Chowder's Loft that can be used by everyone. Initially created with university students in mind to keep them safe from sexual and physical abuse, anyone can use it to send a distress message to specific circle of individuals.

The environment you find yourself might not be very friendly or you might get lost along the way. This message is relayed to your friends including the details of your location. Having the location settings of your phone activated is critical for Bonga to be effective.

The app also offers access to emergency contacts, sexual health information and recourse in case of gender-based altercations.

Other add-ons include martial arts moves to effectively fight off an attacker and make a getaway.

CIRCLE OF 6

An app that has received accolades from the White House and former US Vice President Joe Biden to countless media in the United States, it has friendship and personal safety written all over it.

The app is all about selecting six people you trust the most and add them in your circle. In just two taps the app will immediately send a discreet SMS that you had pre-set with your current location if you find yourself in a hostile or risky location or situation.