All phones to come with panic button for women's safety from 2017

folarin okunola

April 26, 2016 3:21 PM

For feature phones, the numeric keys 5 and 9 will be used for panic buttons while smartphone manufacturers will have to introduce a new button or feature to send emergency alerts.

All phones must have panic buttons in India from next year

To provide emergency assistance to women, all new mobile phones in India must have a panic button that enables users to make emergency calls from 2017.

Furthermore, in-built GPS navigation will be compulsory for all smart phones from 2018, per the new rules announced by India's telecom ministry so as to improve safety for women.

For feature phones, the numeric keys 5 and 9 will be used for panic buttons while smartphone manufacturers will have to introduce a new button or feature to send emergency alerts. No manufacturer is exempt from this rule.

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"Technology is solely meant to make human life better and what better than using it for the security of women,” said India’s telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a statement.

The move was first proposed by India's minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi last year. Government data reveals that there is a rape in India every 30 minutes.

Several companies have already developed safety apps with similar features, such as Safetipin, iSafety, TellTail and the Delhi Police's Himmat. It will be interesting to see the way this reduces the rate of rape in the country.

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