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Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

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41–50 of 118 posts

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#41
post #35

Maybe the words "dead man" in the name of a service about domestic abuse is not such a great idea :( It's a well known technical term for us, but probably not so much for the general public, so this could be easily misinterpreted.

Anyone who's used a lawn mower should know what it is

Know the functionality, but how should you guess the term from operating a lawn mower?

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#42
post #13

As someone who was in an abusive relationship for decades, and my girlfriend is getting out of an even more abusive relationship, there really should be more resources for this. Or maybe there are and there just needs to be a better way to communicate with the people who need this sort of thing.

Yep, it wasn't until I was contacted by an owner of a charity that handled cases of domestic abuse that I even knew it was even needed. Initially this was a hobby project I did in my spare time for when I went travelling and it's grown from there. More visibility is definitely key, and charities are already stretched so it's not like they have the resources to get this kind of thing done for them. I've been reaching…

For what it's worth, I knew immediately what this was for but read your entire page looking for some kind of explicit confirmation and/or clear description of the use cases. The info given almost seems intentionally coy, as if you're even trying to maintain plausible deniability on the website.

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#43
post #21

It doesn’t sound like this is a dead man switch, sounds more like a panic button?

Did you read the beginning? This is an extension to an existing dead man switch app whose only purpose is to hide the fact that it's a dead man switch. The underlying app is indeed a dead man switch.

I read the text in the link, but I can’t figure what it is a dead mans switch _for_?

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#44
post #29
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in the cases of domestic abuse, the victims usually contact a charity that organises a way for them to escape safely. That means setting them up with a new place to live, a job so that they can afford to live (as usually victims will be dependent on their partners), etc. This takes a bit of time and the victims usually stay in their abusive environment if they can (due to over capacity of shelters and other reason…

Constructive feedback: All the copy on both your website and in the app store assumes that one knows what a dead man's switch is in general, and what it means in this context in particular (ie, what you wrote above). I had to use wikipedia to even (sort of) understand what you were selling.

It's also an absolute gobsmackingly terrible term to use for this application.

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#45
post #44
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Constructive feedback: All the copy on both your website and in the app store assumes that one knows what a dead man's switch is in general, and what it means in this context in particular (ie, what you wrote above). I had to use wikipedia to even (sort of) understand what you were selling.

It's also an absolute gobsmackingly terrible term to use for this application.

What makes you say that? It operates exactly like a dead man's switch.

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#46
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For sure, but any app store listing would give that away so that kind of obscurity only gets you so far. Apple are extremely restrictive on how you present your apps, so it will always be obvious what the app is from the listing (which is why I specifically had to use hang man, as the name of the app has to match the general functionality). I couldn't even release a separate app with the same functionality but comple…

Can we start to accuse apple of being complacent in domestic abuse then? I'm only mostly joking Apple products are used at a far higher proportion among women (and the vast majority of domestic abuse victims are women) than Android products are and the locked down nature of the platform means that attempts to fight this with innovative apps masquerading as other apps (as the author has indicated that they want to do)…

Maybe it's better to have an OS that prevents spyware apps. If the victim isn't in control of their phone, do you want the abuser to have free reign on it?

What people need is a hidden extra phone, not a hidden extra app.

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#47
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For sure, but any app store listing would give that away so that kind of obscurity only gets you so far. Apple are extremely restrictive on how you present your apps, so it will always be obvious what the app is from the listing (which is why I specifically had to use hang man, as the name of the app has to match the general functionality). I couldn't even release a separate app with the same functionality but comple…

Can we start to accuse apple of being complacent in domestic abuse then? I'm only mostly joking Apple products are used at a far higher proportion among women (and the vast majority of domestic abuse victims are women) than Android products are and the locked down nature of the platform means that attempts to fight this with innovative apps masquerading as other apps (as the author has indicated that they want to do)…

If you care about women rights, you should also care about open source, here's why.

It might actually work to push the FOSS movement ahead.

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#48
post #42
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it wasn't until I was contacted by an owner of a charity that handled cases of domestic abuse that I even knew it was even needed. Initially this was a hobby project I did in my spare time for when I went travelling and it's grown from there. More visibility is definitely key, and charities are already stretched so it's not like they have the resources to get this kind of thing done for them. I've been reaching…

For what it's worth, I knew immediately what this was for but read your entire page looking for some kind of explicit confirmation and/or clear description of the use cases. The info given almost seems intentionally coy, as if you're even trying to maintain plausible deniability on the website.

That's the problem with marketing secret stuff. The stuff only works if no one else knows what it is, so how you spread awareness to thousands of intended recipients but not others, using a public website?

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#49
post #38
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who's used a lawn mower should know what it is

I think anyone who's used a lawnmower knows the concept but not necessarily the name.

And most people aren't electric lawnmower users anyway.

Re: Show HN: Discreet dead man's switch for victims of domestic abuse

#50
post #45
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also an absolute gobsmackingly terrible term to use for this application.

What makes you say that? It operates exactly like a dead man's switch.

i don't think the target audience of this app wants to think about being a "dead man", or dead anything, when this app would be useful. It's a fun nerd term, but if your life is actually in danger it's far from where your mind wants to wander, even though it's technically correct.
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