One of the things which is very in vogue at the moment is the use of technology for self-defense and personal safety. The market in recent months has been flooded with phone apps that alert friends, family and even the police, when you are in danger (providing you know when you are), with your location, using GPS. Similar technology has been produced and fitted into jewellery, and clothing, working on the same premise; you identify a threat, you press a button, and friends and family members etc. receive details via an app on their mobile phone as to where you are, and in some cases they can even listen in to what’s happening. Whilst all of this may seem like useful technology to have and use, the real question is, how effective is it, and is it detrimental to use it?

There ae two pieces of personal safety advice that we received as very young children. These were: don’t get into cars with strangers, and always tell a parent where you were going. These apps, which can provide our location to others, emotionally resonates with the personal safety advice we were given as children; always tell an adult where you are going and where you will be. Technology that allows us to tell others where we are, automatically makes us feel safe, as it reminds us of a time, when as long as Mum and Dad knew where we were they could come and rescue us. The problem is, that our parents gave us that advice because they wanted to give us a sense of freedom, whilst maintaining a level of control. At the end of the day, if you as a 12 year old were abducted from a shopping mall, the fact that your parents knew you were there was inconsequential when it came to preventing the crime. Knowing where people are makes everybody involved feel safer, however it’s not effective when it comes to preventing assaults and abductions etc. Undoubtedly technology that allows us to notify people where we are and that we are in trouble will make us feel safer however just because we feel safe doesn’t mean we are.

There are a number of reasons why this technology has a very limited use from a personal safety perspective; to say it is completely useless would be unfair, as it does have some very, very limited practical applications. One reason it is generally ineffective is the speed at which most assaults occur; something which many people are unaware off, or grossly underestimate. In 1982 a woman was raped on a New York Subway train, between two stops. The entire assault was completed within 7 seconds. The rapist was already aroused when he started the assault, and it took him only a few seconds to move behind the woman (who was standing, holding on to a pole), lift her skirt up, pull her pants down and penetrate her, and only a more to ejaculate and move away. There were also people present who failed to see the assault, or who did see it and didn’t want to get involved. Whilst such assaults are rare, two things from the account are evident: firstly, the assault occurred very quickly, and was over in a matter of seconds, secondly if anybody did see what was going on, they either decided not to get involved, or explained the incident away to themselves e.g. that both parties knew each other and it was consensual – they denied it for what it was. This is the problem that such apps have to deal with.

If you find yourself in a threatening situation, and have the presence of mind to use an app to alert a circle of friends, they may only have a few seconds to act – if they are in the same environment as you, such as in a club or bar, they may be able to get to you in time, however at any greater distance it is unlikely that they stand any chance of reaching you or notifying law enforcement and security agencies to the fact that you are in danger. Also, it is likely that they will go throw a period of deliberating what to do when they see the alarm go off on their phone; they may well debate with themselves (and others) if the app has gone off by accident, or whether you’re over-reacting, they may also assume that somebody else will be receiving this alert as well and that they can let them take responsibility for dealing with it – something that is referred to as the “Genovese Syndrome”. It really doesn’t matter how reliable the people the app contacts are, they will initially not believe it and then find themselves wondering what to do, and having to convince themselves to do it – this is our shared human condition when dealing with high stress events.

There is then the question of the person using the app being able to recognize the threat/danger earlier enough on, so that they can alert people. If we believe that all violence happens when we are walking alone at night then we might convince ourselves that we’ll be able to recognize the danger soon enough however, how many times has the hair on the back of your neck gone up, and you’ve felt that somebody’s following you? And how many times have you told yourself not to be so paranoid and stupid? When we first identify threats we experience denial; a simple emotional coping mechanism that allows us to feel safe and less stressed. Even if you have a piece of technology in your hand, ready to alert the world to danger, you may be assaulted before you have the time to use it, because you’ve explained away the danger to yourself; just as the people who receive the alert are likely to do. The majority of sexual assaults against women are conducted by acquaintances – are you likely to have your phone and app open when communicating with them? Probably not. The creators of these applications have not studied the reality of violence, they have just created something that will work in their “world” of what violence looks like.

In all of this the larger question remains unanswered: what are you doing about your personal safety when you rely on an app or piece of technology to tell others you are in danger? Basically nothing, and this is the real danger of relying on technology to keep you safe; you remove your own responsibility for personal safety, and place it on to someone else. You’ve ticked a box that says you are now safe, and then you switch off. These apps, are no different to the rape alarms and whistles, which nobody carries anymore; there were too many false alarms, nobody came when they were used (people “mistook” or explained away the rape alarms as car alarms) etc. Just because the technology has become more sophisticated it doesn’t mean the idea itself has improved. Will there be success stories surrounding this type of technology? Of course there will as these stories will always be newsworthy, however the number of people who relied on these apps to keep them safe and were still assaulted will never be reported on – and that will be the far larger number.