Rideshare passengers
Uber received 400,181 sexual assault and misconduct reports between 2017 and 2022 — approximately one every 8 minutes. Most riders have no independent witness.
Source: New York Times investigation, 2024
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
1 in 5 women experiences sexual assault during college. The first months of freshman and sophomore years are the highest-risk window. 90% of campus sexual assaults go unreported.
Source: CDC; RAINN
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.
- Safe word detection means you can trigger escalation by speaking a pre-set phrase, no buttons required.
- 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. 43% have been harassed mid-run. 60% avoid running at night entirely.
Source: Adidas Runner Safety Survey 2023; Runner’s World Survey
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.
Walking alone at night
30% of women have been physically assaulted at least once since age 15. 23% reduce night walking trips because of safety concerns.
Source: EU Fundamental Rights Agency; multi-country surveys
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 stop the alarm prevents accidental dismissal.
- Your phone stays in your pocket. Activation does not require unlocking, finding the app, or tapping a screen you cannot look at.
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
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.
- Court-admissible evidence chain: per-segment SHA-256 hashing, device fingerprinting, and a tamper-evident JSON export that meets 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.
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; Department of Justice workplace violence data
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.
- Free tier includes the core safety features. Paid tiers add unlimited recording, cloud backup, and Walk Safely route monitoring.
Online dating and first dates
Online dating coincides with elevated assault risk. The first in-person meeting is the highest-risk moment. Many first-date assaults go unreported because there is no independent record of the encounter.
Source: Pew Research Center; multiple peer-reviewed studies
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
1 in 6 women experiences stalking in her lifetime. Protective orders are most effective when supported by documented evidence of harassment patterns — but most stalking incidents go undocumented.
Source: CDC National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
How Soteria helps. Document every incident with timestamped, GPS-tagged, court-admissible evidence. 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.
- Court-admissible 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 workers experience workplace violence at five times the rate of workers in other industries. Home health aides, visiting nurses, and social workers enter strangers' homes without oversight or backup.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; OSHA workplace violence data
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 stop for 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. Court-admissible per-segment hashing means the recording holds up 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; Reporters Without Borders
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.
- Court-admissible 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.
- Duress protection lets you preserve evidence even if you are forced to delete it. Your work survives coercion.