These systems would all be difficult to use if the user was in a situation with a risk of sexual assault, although the apps claim to be for specifically these situations. If in a dangerous situation, spending time to open an app that may or may not be of help is not the best use of time.
The study aimed to discover new or more effective methods of studying long term effects of exposure to toxic agents. It describes the new insights including the effectiveness of simple studies, ensuring control groups, and methods to do research by using ecological aspects or involving the community in places where medical researchers are not entirely trusted.
The apps described were built to serve anyone who was a victim of sexual assault, which is not limited by demographics. One app was however aimed at college students, likely because there is a higher risk of sexual assault for that age range.
Users interact with the app through video recording in most cases, some of the apps prompt the user to speak and certain times while others are simply a way to send a help message to multiple people quickly. Many of the apps notify the user of a recording that proves they gave consent or that consent was specifically not given, as the apps purpose is to prevent sexual assault and awareness of a recording may prevent an incident from occurring.
The apps do not translate the data into information, in most cases they simply receive and store data which can be forwarded to the police under certain circumstances.
The article was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, a well regarded journal dedicated to publishing reliable studies concerning ecological damage and effects, as well as the medical effects due to ecological factors of both natural and human creation.
The study was funded with assistance from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Center of Economic Excellence, located in South Carolina, through a program for the Doris Meddin Levkoff Center for Medication Safety.
The data for all of the apps is kept in a secure part of the cloud and cannot be accessed by users once recordings have been made. The apps claim this is to prevent users from manipulating the videos, either to hide evidence or to fabricate it.
Users input contact data and video recordings
The study aimed to do large scale studies on disasters relating to the exposure of a portion of the population to a toxic agent, in order to learn how to better study the long-term medical effects.