well, this is one app I'd like my daughter to install, and not because I think she's in threat of being arrested.
On Monday, 23 June 2014, Jun Matsushita <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear LibTech, > > I'm glad to announce that today we're releasing Panic Button > <https://panicbutton.io> in public beta on the Play Store > <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.iilab.pb>. Panic > Buttin is an open source <https://github.com/iilab/PanicButton> Android > app which allows individuals at risk of being arrested to discretely send > SMS alerts with their location to their trusted contacts. It's been a long > road and many have helped bring the app to where it is now. The project was > born with an Amnesty International <http://amnesty.org> Open Ideo > challenge <http://www.openideo.com/challenge/amnesty/brief>. Thoughtworks > <http://www.thoughtworks.com/> put together the software building blocks > and hackathons were organised around the world including with the > developers of Hancel <http://hanselapp.com/> in Mexico city. iilab > <https://iilab.org> then took the relay baton to bring the app to launch. > > A lot of the work that has happened in the past 6 months together with > Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders, the engine room and iilab has > revolved around ensuring that the application's user experience reinforced > the security goals. We conducted frequent user testing during development, > rolled out pilot trainings during our private beta and continued to work on > the software based on this feedback. It's still in Beta and there's a lot > more to do, but we feel it's ready for a larger number of users to test it, > and for the lib tech community to take a good look at it and ask > the difficult questions. > > The installation Wizard in the app is meant to not just help with > understanding the functionality but also to reaffirm the security aspects > related to using the app, most importantly the preparation that needs to be > done offline with a network of trusted contacts that is able to act in case > of an alert. We've put online materials that reinforce this point > <https://panicbutton.io/help/help-using.html#help_using_security> and > tried to also present this content in an easy to digest form (with > cartoons <https://panicbutton.io/#how> and a simple question answer widget > <https://panicbutton.io/#is> and a checklist in the app itself). We can't > completely prevent users from endangering themselves of course, but we're > trying to make sure that they are as informed as possible. It is also > obvious that making security trade-offs are part and parcel of human > defenders' daily decision-making in the face of many types of threats. > > We've also drafted a document > <https://github.com/iilab/PanicButton/blob/master/docs/SECURITY.md> which > presents the security goals of the app for a slightly more technical > audience and as a basis for a threat model document which would guide > further development. The main trade off from a security standpoint is that > the ability of the app to alert a user's trusted contacts rapidly is more > relevant/important than the privacy of the user or their contacts. The > disguise and discreet activation methods are only there to delay discovery, > to allow a network to act and to mitigate harm. With no network ready to > act, or no possibility to influence the outcomes, then using SMS alerts > could reveal a user's contact and do more harm than good. Hopefully, this > will be clear to the user with our efforts put towards educational > communication. Hopefully, individuals and organisations who adopt or > promote the application, will also relay this message clearly. > > Working with organisations like Amnesty International can help enable rich > feedback loops which are invaluable when they can be integrated in the > software development cycle. As there are more android apps targeting > individuals and risk, such as the amazing work of Whisper System > <https://whispersystems.org/> and Guardian Project > <https://guardianproject.info> or more recently Security First > <http://www.secfirst.org/>, there'll be also more opportunities to create > more reusable building blocks (both functional and educational) to help > others build great apps, with different type of users in mind, and > facilitating the reuse of security functionalities and content. I hope > there'll be more chances to hang out more with Nathan and Moxie and other > developers of mobile apps. It's always good to be around great human > beings. > > Cheers, > > Jun > > -- > > Jun Matsushita > Founder, CEO > > mobile: +44 7429 144 691 > skype: junjulien > > iilab.org > @iilab <http://twitter.com/iilab> > information innovation lab > > > > -- ________________________________ learning; design; technology; research http://www.yishaymor.org +44 7891 456690 (mobile)
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