Tech-Savvy Safety

Technology to keep you safe goes beyond alarms and security systems – check out these useful apps and gadgets.

- Lynnette Johns

THE world can feel like a scary place. Housebreakings, hijackings, rape, sexual assault, stabbings, kidnapping – we’re confronted with news about these crimes daily.

No wonder so many of us feel an almost constant undercurrent of anxiety.

It’s that feeling of unease that has us anxiously looking over our shoulder when we’re out, especially in an unfamiliar place or at night. It’s the hyperawareness about where your kids are, where your bag is, whether you’ve locked the security gate.

Many women now carry some sort of self-defence weapon – for example a key to stab an attacker in the eye or pepper spray to blind them. But technology also gives us access to devices that can alert emergency services, family or friends if we’re in trouble.

Here’s a selection of apps and gadgets you might want to consider.

APP APPEAL

Check out these free safety apps.

Sharing your location via WhatsApp has become a regular safety measure. It doesn’t live-track you, but it shows where you are within 17m. To send your location, open the chat, click on the paper clip icon (Android) or the plus sign (iOS) in the chat box, and click on the location button.

Uber has a number of safety features in its toolkit. You can share trip details with your contacts, including GPS-tracking rides and sharing arrival times, and there’s an in-app emergency button linked to private security companies.

The e-hailing ChaufHer app will be launched in South Africa soon. Its mission is to provide a safe riding environment for women. It employs only women drivers and transports only women and children.