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

deadmantracker.com

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

#71

Post by deif »

dot1x wrote: post #67

My problem with any "Dead man switch" is the fact that none of these services seem to survive. Also, can you please write somewhere on the website what's your privacy policy? Is everything encrypted? if so, with what? By it's nature this kind of service will hold very sensitive information.

The privacy policy can be found fixed to the bottom of the website on every page (next to the copyright notice).

As with any service you should assume that nothing is encrypted (even though it is) and follow other articles that I've written about how to securely maintain private information when using third party services.

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

#72

Post by s_r_n »

This is a great cause, but it would probably be a good idea to explain somewhere on the website what exactly a dead man switch is and how it can be useful for domestic violence victims. The marketing seems a little too technical for the general public as it is.

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

#73

Post by deif »

gowld wrote: post #54

I can't imagine trusting the mindset of a dev who builds a sensitive personal safety app for (mostly) women if they calls it "dead man tracker".

Sorry but this was not the original target audience, this is merely a requested feature direct from a domestic abuse charity that wanted to use the app for their victims.

Thank you for your concern though.

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

#74

Post by Grustaf »

fudged71 wrote: post #61
Grustaf wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It seems the web service will automatically contact whoever you have set up to be contacted, if you don't take action on the notifications from the app

Aha ok I see. But then I don’t see how it could be two apps, what would the app without the game do?

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

#75

Post by DonHopkins »

deif wrote: post #69
DonHopkins wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that not gobsmackingly obvious to you??! Look at the words you just typed. There are millions of other innocuous games whose names don't invoke death, men, capital punishment, gallows, prison, nooses, lynching, strangulation, hanging, suicide, murder, etc. For God's sake, pick one of those, instead of "hangman" and "dead man's switch". Might as well call it "Kill My Abusive Boyfriend". The whole point is NOT t…

I completely agree with you, but as I explained in the article I am limited by Apple's restrictions. I could get around this by side loading the app but then I make the barrier to entry higher. If you can believe it originally this was a 2048 game (see the android version) but Apple suggested they would only approve the app if it was a hang man game and I named it 'Dead Man'. I wish I were joking. You have to underst…

I'm not sure I get what the issue with the Apple store is. I read the article, and I'm still confused. What did you want to do, and why did they not yet you do it? Why does the name of the app need to have any relation to what it does? There are plenty of apps named things like "Blorg" that do all kinds of things that there's not even a word for. The name doesn't need to be descriptive, it's just a brand. "Pokemon Go" doesn't have any meaning outside of the totally fictitious Pokemon universe. Just make something up like that, like "Glork Zonker Pro".

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

#76

Post by rendall »

DonHopkins wrote: post #58
deif wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

How is that not gobsmackingly obvious to you??! Look at the words you just typed. There are millions of other innocuous games whose names don't invoke death, men, capital punishment, gallows, prison, nooses, lynching, strangulation, hanging, suicide, murder, etc. For God's sake, pick one of those, instead of "hangman" and "dead man's switch". Might as well call it "Kill My Abusive Boyfriend". The whole point is NOT t…

DonHopkins, you seem angry?

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

#77

Post by deif »

DonHopkins wrote: post #75
deif wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with you, but as I explained in the article I am limited by Apple's restrictions. I could get around this by side loading the app but then I make the barrier to entry higher. If you can believe it originally this was a 2048 game (see the android version) but Apple suggested they would only approve the app if it was a hang man game and I named it 'Dead Man'. I wish I were joking. You have to underst…

I'm not sure I get what the issue with the Apple store is. I read the article, and I'm still confused. What did you want to do, and why did they not yet you do it? Why does the name of the app need to have any relation to what it does? There are plenty of apps named things like "Blorg" that do all kinds of things that there's not even a word for. The name doesn't need to be descriptive, it's just a brand. "Pokemon Go…

I wanted to release a completely separate app, appropriately named for victims of domestic abuse using a simple 2048 game with hidden dead man switch functionality. For 3 months going back and forth with Apple they told me the app was spam because it mimiced partial functionality of the existing app on the app store that is appropriately named for a completely different target audience (ones where dead man switch is completely relevant).

Apple would only approve the app if I integrated it into the existing app but not with the 2048 game because the name wouldn't match the functionality and a dead man switch app called 2048 doesn't make sense for the majority of users. You seem to be missing the fact that this app already exists with a current set of users already. Calling it Glorp Zonker Pro is not exactly relevant to them.

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

#78

Post by DonHopkins »

deif wrote: post #77
DonHopkins wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I get what the issue with the Apple store is. I read the article, and I'm still confused. What did you want to do, and why did they not yet you do it? Why does the name of the app need to have any relation to what it does? There are plenty of apps named things like "Blorg" that do all kinds of things that there's not even a word for. The name doesn't need to be descriptive, it's just a brand. "Pokemon Go…

I wanted to release a completely separate app, appropriately named for victims of domestic abuse using a simple 2048 game with hidden dead man switch functionality. For 3 months going back and forth with Apple they told me the app was spam because it mimiced partial functionality of the existing app on the app store that is appropriately named for a completely different target audience (ones where dead man switch is…

I still don't understand why the name matters, since you say the abuse shelter or support group would be the ones who recommend installing the app to the victim, and presumably they didn't find out about it by searching the app store for fun sounding games.

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

#80

Post by deif »

DonHopkins wrote: post #78
deif wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to release a completely separate app, appropriately named for victims of domestic abuse using a simple 2048 game with hidden dead man switch functionality. For 3 months going back and forth with Apple they told me the app was spam because it mimiced partial functionality of the existing app on the app store that is appropriately named for a completely different target audience (ones where dead man switch is…

I still don't understand why the name matters, since you say the abuse shelter or support group would be the ones who recommend installing the app to the victim, and presumably they didn't find out about it by searching the app store for fun sounding games.

That's correct, they found me by searching for dead man switches.
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