Rideshare passengers
Uber publicly disclosed 12,522 sexual assault incidents from 2017 to 2022. Court documents unsealed in federal multidistrict litigation revealed the actual number: 400,181. That is a 97% disclosure gap from a company that owns your ride data. Survivors deserve infrastructure that does not depend on the vendor being honest about what happened to them.
Source: New York Times investigation of MDL 3084 court records, 2025
How Soteria helps. Activate before you get in the car. Soteria captures audio, transcript, and continuous GPS for the entire trip.
- One-tap activation while you wait for your driver. The session begins before you open the door.
- On-device transcription captures every word of the trip without sending audio off your phone.
- Continuous GPS log shows the exact route taken, with timestamped coordinates at every segment boundary.
- If something happens, the evidence already exists. You did not have to fumble for your phone in the moment.
- When you arrive safely, end the session and an automatic Safely Home email confirms to your contacts that you are okay.
College students
More than 1 in 4 undergraduate women experiences rape or sexual assault involving force, violence, or incapacitation. Four out of five student victims never report it to law enforcement.
Source: RAINN, Statistics: Campus Sexual Violence
How Soteria helps. Activate before late walks to your dorm, the library, or your car. A check-in timer auto-alerts contacts if you do not arrive on time.
- Set a check-in timer for the walk between buildings. If you miss the check-in, contacts are emailed automatically with your last known location.
- During an active session, Soteria listens for your safe word and other voice triggers, so you can escalate by speaking a pre-set phrase with no buttons required. Voice activation outside an active session depends on your device and browser; iOS Safari and most background modes do not support it.
- Walk Safely route monitoring tracks your path and alerts contacts if you deviate significantly from where you said you were going.
- Title IX coverage has weakened. Soteria gives you an independent record that does not depend on whether an institution chooses to act.
Runners and joggers
92% of women runners report safety concerns. 38% have experienced physical or verbal harassment on a run, and 69% take specific precautions before they head out the door.
Source: adidas Runner Safety Survey, 2023
How Soteria helps. Walk Safely mode tracks your route in real time. Deviation alerts trigger if you go off-course. Arrival confirmation when you get home.
- Pick your route before you head out. Soteria watches your GPS and flags significant deviations to your contacts.
- Safely Home notifications close the loop. When you end the session normally, your contacts receive a confirmation that you arrived.
- Loud Alarm mode is one tap away if you need to deter or attract attention. Maximum-volume siren with vibration loop.
- On-device processing means the app works in low-signal areas. Your evidence is captured even when the cell tower is not.
- Scheduled Check-Ins can watch a regular running route on a recurring cadence, automatically alerting your contacts if you miss a check-in.
Walking alone at night
31% of women in the EU have experienced physical violence or threats, or sexual violence, since the age of 15. One in five has experienced stalking, and one in two has faced sexual harassment.
Source: EU Gender-based Violence Survey, key results, 2024
How Soteria helps. Loud Alarm mode for deterrence. Silent Alert mode if discretion matters. You choose what the moment calls for.
- Loud Alarm sounds a maximum-volume siren and vibration loop. Designed to deter attackers and draw attention from anyone nearby.
- Silent Alert mode skips audio recording entirely and just sends GPS plus emergency notifications. Useful in all-party consent jurisdictions and any situation where discretion is required.
- Long-press activation prevents accidental triggers. Two-second long-press to silence the alarm prevents accidental dismissal.
- Start the session before you set out, and your phone stays in your pocket for the rest of the walk. During an active session, Soteria listens for your safe word and other voice triggers, so you do not have to look at a screen. Voice activation outside an active session depends on your device and browser; iOS Safari and most background modes do not support it.
Survivors leaving abusers
When prosecuted, domestic sexual assault cases have a 98% conviction rate, but most never get prosecuted without independent evidence. Soteria provides that evidence.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, State Court Processing of Domestic Violence Cases
How Soteria helps. Three-layer disguise mode. Evidence chain that holds up in court. Auto-delete that protects you if the device is compromised.
- Disguise mode hides Soteria behind a different-looking interface. If someone forces you to unlock your phone, the app does not announce itself.
- Tamper-evident evidence chain: per-segment SHA-256 hashing, device fingerprinting, and a tamper-evident JSON export that is self-authenticating under Federal Rules of Evidence 902(13) and 902(14).
- Auto-delete enforces your chosen retention period. If your device is compromised, recordings beyond the window are already gone.
- OAuth-only authentication. No password for an abuser to demand. Sign-in happens through Google or Microsoft, where you control the account recovery.
- Scheduled Check-Ins act as a dead-man switch while you plan or carry out a safe escape: set a recurring cadence, and if you miss a check-in, your emergency contacts are notified automatically by email.
- The Safety Plan keeps your escape routes, safe contacts, code words, and document inventory protected by a passphrase only you know. It is stored on your device only and never uploaded. If the passphrase is forgotten, the content cannot be recovered, so no one can pull it out of you.
Late-night workers, real estate agents, nurses, delivery workers
Anyone who is alone, mobile, or in unfamiliar locations during off-hours faces elevated risk. The same patterns that make rideshare dangerous apply to every job that puts you in a stranger’s home, a parking garage at midnight, or a route nobody is tracking.
Source: OSHA, Workplace Violence overview
How Soteria helps. Persistent session tracking that does not time out on you. Easy reactivation between stops. Evidence preserved for every shift.
- Sessions can run for hours without manual intervention. Reactivation between client visits is one tap.
- GPS and audio segments are timestamped and hashed at capture, so the evidence is admissible even if your employer or a client disputes what happened.
- Emergency contact alerts go by email with full GPS, alert type, transcript excerpt, and an authentication link so the recipient can verify the alert is real.
- Scheduled Check-Ins keep watch across a long or late shift: set a recurring cadence and your contacts are notified automatically if you miss a check-in.
- Free tier includes the core safety features. Paid tiers add unlimited recording, cloud backup, and Walk Safely route monitoring.
Online dating and first dates
56% of women under 50 who have used a dating site or app report being sent sexually explicit messages or images they did not ask for. The first in-person meeting is the highest-risk moment, and many first-date assaults go unreported because there is no independent record of the encounter.
Source: Pew Research Center, The experiences of U.S. online daters, 2023
How Soteria helps. Activate before you arrive at the date. Soteria captures audio, transcript, and GPS for the duration of the encounter. Share your location with a friend through Walk Safely.
- One-tap activation before you walk into the restaurant or bar. Your phone stays in your pocket. The session is already running.
- Walk Safely route monitoring shares your planned route to and from the date with a chosen contact. Deviation alerts trigger if you go off-course.
- Fake incoming call gives you an immediate, plausible exit if the date escalates or you feel unsafe.
- Safely Home notifications confirm to your contacts when you arrive home safely. No more "text me when you're home" anxiety.
- If something happens, the evidence already exists. You did not have to fumble for your phone in the moment.
Stalking victims and protective order holders
More than 1 in 5 women experiences stalking in her lifetime, and 1 in 20 was stalked in the past year alone. Protective orders are most effective when supported by documented evidence of harassment patterns, but most stalking incidents go undocumented.
Source: CDC NISVS 2023/2024 Stalking Data Brief
How Soteria helps. Document every incident with timestamped, GPS-tagged, tamper-evident records. Build the pattern of behavior that protective orders and prosecution require.
- Activate Soteria when you sense a stalker is nearby or approaching. The session captures audio, GPS, and live transcript automatically.
- The evidence chain documents the time, place, and pattern of every incident. Per-segment SHA-256 hashing means the recording is tamper-evident and self-authenticating under Federal Rules of Evidence 902(13) and 902(14).
- Stealth disguise mode hides Soteria behind a fake calculator interface, so a stalker who grabs your phone cannot see what app you are using.
- Auto-delete preserves only the incidents you choose to keep. Old sessions are purged automatically based on your retention preferences.
- Export your evidence package to share with law enforcement, your attorney, or the court when you file or extend a protective order.
Healthcare workers in patient homes
Healthcare and social assistance workers are roughly five times as likely to be injured by workplace violence as workers overall. Home health aides, visiting nurses, and social workers enter strangers' homes without oversight or backup.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Workplace Violence in Healthcare
How Soteria helps. Persistent session tracking through every home visit. Evidence preserved for every shift. Safely Home confirmation when you finish the route.
- Activate Soteria when you arrive at a patient's home. The session runs through the entire visit with continuous GPS and on-device transcription.
- Walk Safely route monitoring tracks the planned route between visits. If you deviate significantly or linger too long, contacts are alerted.
- Silent Alert mode (in all-party consent states) skips audio recording but maintains GPS tracking and emergency alert capability for situations where recording is legally restricted.
- Evidence chain documents every incident if a client or family member becomes hostile. Tamper-evident per-segment hashing means the recording can be authenticated in a workplace-violence investigation or workers' compensation claim.
- Safely Home notifications close the loop at the end of your shift. Your contacts know you finished the route safely.
Journalists in hostile environments
Investigative journalists, conflict reporters, and journalists covering protests, surveillance, and political extremism face elevated risk of physical harm, harassment, equipment seizure, and source compromise.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, database of attacks on the press
How Soteria helps. Continuous documentation of your location and surroundings during high-risk reporting. Evidence chain that holds up if your work is challenged or your equipment is seized.
- Activate Soteria when entering a high-risk environment: a protest, an interview with a hostile subject, a meeting in a region where your safety is uncertain.
- A tamper-evident evidence chain documents what happened, where, and when. The same FRE 902 evidentiary standard used by digital forensics investigators.
- Disguised install variants let you carry Soteria on your phone without it being obvious. If your device is searched, the safety app looks like a Calculator, Weather, or Notes app.
- On-device processing means your recordings never touch a server unless you enable cloud backup. Source confidentiality is structurally preserved.
- Scheduled Check-Ins act as a dead-man switch in a hostile environment: if you miss a scheduled check-in, your contacts are notified automatically.
- Duress protection lets you preserve evidence even if you are forced to delete it. Your work survives coercion.