Lawmakers Urge Apple, Google, and Carriers to Play Their Part in Personal Safety

If you took a virtual stroll through Apple’s App Store, Google Play, or took a quick visit to your local wireless carrier’s retail outlet, chances are you’ll see a lot of the same: Starbucks new app featuring a color change, Candy Crush unveiling their 31st new world, or the latest smartphone case designed by Kate Spade.

To be clear, we love every last Kate Spade wearing, Starbucks drinking, Candy Crush enthusiast out there, says CEO Peter Cahill. But it’s left some asking, with initiatives rolling in all over the country from the President’s “A Renewed Call to Action”, to state’s implementing new reporting requirements for sexual assaults, why are the proverbial distributors & OEMs (operating equipment manufactures) waiting on the sidelines when it comes to safety? What’s taboo about violence?

That same question was recently posed by Kansas State Senator Greg Smith. On June 2, 2007, just nine days after his daughter Kelsey graduated high school, she was abducted from a Target parking lot in Overland Park, Kansas. Police searched for four days to find Kelsey, and even though she had a cell phone that carriers could locate, they were unable to locate her.

“When Kelsey was missing that was the huge issue. Law enforcement — despite doing everything they were supposed to do — couldn’t get the cell phone company to release the location information on her cell phone,” Smith said. “Once that information got to law enforcement, they recovered her lifeless body in forty-five minutes.”

Recently Senator Smith was introduced to a new smartphone app called LifeLine Response. Had LifeLine Response existed years ago, he added in recent Kansas Biz journal article, Smith probably wouldn’t even been commenting for this story.

“When (LifeLine Response CEO) Peter Cahill demonstrated this product over breakfast for my wife and I, I was in tears afterwards,” Sen. Smith, R-Overland Park, said. “If my daughter, Kelsey, had it that day, she’d still be here.”

Now the conversation has turned onto Apple, Google, Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and others, and it’s not just Senator Smith. Senators, State Representatives, Chiefs of Police, and University Campus Safety Directors from across the United States are uniting behind this cause.

“Why this isn’t featured on the App Store and Google Play is a question I keep asking. Legislation alone cannot stop violence. In fact, with only a few exceptions, legislation is reactive. LifeLine Response is proactive,” Smith said. “As the Executive Director of the Kelsey Smith Foundation®, I present safety awareness seminars across the country. Awareness is the key to personal safety. If people aren’t aware of what LifeLine Response is it can’t save any lives. As a featured app it will have the ability to make a huge difference and save lives, it’s an absolutely win-win.” He hopes these big names will start to take notice and put their social reach behind LifeLine Response.

National carriers have started to unite around LifeLine Response & is available in the Lifestyle Category for both Apple & Android smartphones. U.S. Cellular® currently promotes app on their website and in retail stores as the leader in personal mobile safety. Recently Sprint invited LifeLine Response to join the inaugural class of TechStars (TechStars is the #1 start-up accelerator in the world) into the Sprint Accelerator which started on March 8th.

Legislators & influencers though-out the US are uniting behind this safety initiative: