A Content Analysis of Personal Safety Apps

Are They Keeping Us Safe or Making Us More Vulnerable

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12436770
AutoresLucy Maxwell (0000-0001-8483-9417, Swinburne University of Technology, autor correspondente), A Sanders (0000-0001-8964-1290, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia), Audrey Sorgen Sanders (Swinburne University of Technology), Jason Skues (0000-0001-5091-8360, Swinburne University of Technology), Lisa Wise (0000-0002-4997-4768, Swinburne University of Technology)
Ano2019
Volume26
Fascículo2
Páginas233-248
Data de publicação2019-03-11
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoViolence Against Women (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1077-8012 • E-ISSN: 1552-8448
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1077801219832124
PMID30854941
OpenAlexW2922281257
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas24
Referências citadas31

Despite personal safety apps claiming to increase safety, few studies have examined the usefulness of such apps in reducing public stranger violence. A content analysis of personal safety apps available in the iTunes store and Google Play identified location-based services, personal alarms, crowd-sourced hot spot data, and geofencing as the most common features. The majority of apps offered interventions either at the time of the event or post-event, suggesting that they may reduce a user's fear of crime but have limited usefulness in reducing vulnerability to victimization. Implications for users, app designers, and key stakeholders are discussed

Computer security · Event (particle physics · Internet privacy · Psychological intervention · Vulnerability (computing · Computer Science · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Medicine · Nursing