NSCC Truro students develop app to help prevent human trafficking – SaltWire

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TRURO, N.S. —  A new app developed by students at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Truro campus is being designed to help those targeted by abusers and traffickers.

Juan Roldan, Brandon Roy and Man Ching Ngi are all IT and web development students at NSCC. For their final project, they've taken to developing an app that can help prevent human trafficking, which has seen an approximately 50 per cent increase in reported cases in the province since 2019

The idea originated with Edward Burns, the lead public safety officer at the Truro campus, who brought it to an instructor. This led to the students working in partnership with campus security.

“In a nutshell; whoever is using the app would create a safe contact, somebody that you trust,” said Burns. “When you activate the app, it would send an alert to these people saying that you need help, with your GPS location.”

Burns further explained the app could also snap a photo of the subject to send to the emergency contact, which can help identify the subject, as well as any threatening parties. This info can then be passed on to the police.

He also hopes it will have a feature that, when activated, would allow the app to record video and audio to send to the contact.

“Say I'm a person that's in danger, and I'm recording you. In 15 seconds, it doesn't matter if you took my phone and smashed it. What I recorded is gone. It's already gone to the safe contact.”

These pictures, video and audio could also be used in court, said Burns.

Early in development

The students spoke about the app's development, which is currently transitioning out of the research phase,

“We were doing research on how to get all the functionalities, and it went pretty well,” said Ngi. “It's going to be a great experience, and the outcome is going to be great.”

“We're still kind of in the early stages,” added Roy. “It's kind of research-heavy at the start, figuring out our plan and how we're going to do it. We've only just this week sat down and started coding it out.”

Roldan said they expect to have the first version of the app ready by April 2023.

“We're really excited about it because it's not just a project for us to be able to graduate, but also something that we think will be very important for society,” Roldan explained. “When we talked with Edward, he mentioned that it could save lives. It makes a lot more than just an app for a school project.”

Stephanie Atwood, the executive director of ElevateHer, has also been in on the project's development. She spoke of the app's importance in keeping people safe from human traffickers.

“Our stats alone, we have seen a 60 per cent increase in people disclosing that they have been trafficked, or are currently being trafficked and exploited,” said Atwood. “Maybe we could lower those if we could catch it earlier, and this kind of app would definitely help that.

“A lot of the time, these individuals find themselves in these situations, don't know how to deal with it, and then they're so entrapped (in) it, that by the time they're able to disclose, sometimes it's too late.”

Atwood further explained that most people experiencing gender-based violence are often afraid to call 911 in moments of crisis, and don't think to contact their support systems.

“Most of the time, the opportunity for that doesn't exist. This is why this app will be accessible and prompt.”

Overall, Atwood is excited to see the app in development and anticipates its release.

“It's incredibly important. I'm very happy this is actually coming to fruition,” she said.