Sunday, June 14, 2009

Twitter as a Security Log for Personal Safety

Twitter as a Security Log for Personal Safety

 

My friend's daughter lives alone in Delhi in a private apartment. Her work necessitates late hours of working in the night. She has to return home at odd hours. She also frequently travels by train and air to other cities. Delhi being a notorious city, she would like to take a few precautions while travelling whether it is within the city and elsewhere.

 

Her parents are in Hyderabad. Whenever she sets out say by an auto or taxi she would send a text message to her parents. On her return home, another short SMS: "SE. GN" meaning "Safely Ensconced. Good night."  Changes in her plans for the day are also made known. Supposing she does not have anyone to 'report to' or does not have anyone bother about her, what can she do? She may want to keep a log of her movements safely elsewhere stored away for eventual usage, say similar to a black box of an aircraft.

 

Twitter offers a good solution. She can open a private Twitter account perhaps exclusively for such log details and share it with a couple of close friends and relatives who matter to her. All that she needs to do is to regularly send SMS based Tweets about her movements and other events to this private account. Copies of Tweets may be sent to one or two close friends who "follow" her on Twitter. Such deliveries could be on the mobile phone. Such a log will be very useful for persons living alone say single ladies or senior citizens. The sense of security it affords is immeasurable.

 

Should any misfortune occur or if anything goes wrong, the logs are always available for examination. It will help Police and relatives providing lot of clues. Sending SMS will not attract the attention of others around you. You need not talk which may be overheard - say while you are alone in a taxi. Even the vehicle number could be logged.

 

One of my friends always packs an extra pair of Spectacles when he travels out of town. Same practice is sensible for the Cell phone also.

 

We should put all available technology to best use. Will someone try and share his/her experience?

 

 





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