Social safety network provides real-time crime alerts

Peru-based social network Reach uses smartphone geolocation to track crime reports and lets users alert contacts to their whereabouts in an emergency.

Reach is an application that uses smartphone geolocation to track crime reports and lets users alert contacts to their whereabouts in the event of an emergency. The company is based in Lima, Peru, and has designed the platform to work with almost all languages and in every country.

Reach categorizes its safety reporting into three areas: social incidents, personal security and a global network. Social incidents could be anything from a hazard to illegal activity, and users of the network receive real time alerts anytime something in their area is reported. Users of the network can expand its crime reporting capabilities by sharing any incidents on more than 100 other social networks. Reports can also be made anonymously, and multimedia files can be uploaded for a stronger case.

The personal security function allows users to set up a group of contacts to receive any emergency alerts, including the sender’s location. The global network part of the platform provides users with alerts showing the travel routes of emergency service teams, road closures and any other civic cautions. Reach also runs safety campaigns, including one on staying safe while playing Pokemon Go and one on violence against women.

Technology is improving personal safety in a number of ways, from helping carers keep track of patients that tend to wander off to a chatbot for kids that teaches online security while allowing parents oversight of relevant activity. How else could personal safety be improved without needing geolocation services?