Application that provides support in personal, family and group security

Only two decades ago, it was impossible to locate or protect one of the members of our family and social community who was far from us. Today, there are not only geographic location devices that help guide or get the required direction, they also provide us with well-being and security when we can know the route of displacement or whereabouts of the closest and loved ones. MAPLO is one of those applications that is designed to make everyday life easier. A support that provides peace of mind when parents, due to their series of occupations, want to be informed about the specifics of the school route or timing the arrival of the teenager partying. There are countless cases or examples where MAPLO is synonymous with security, tranquility, protection, support, because its technology is accessible and it is just enough to download it to the mobile, there’s no need to answer calls or expose yourself to insecure sites.

But let's see, according to these support fundamentals, this application has been created. It considers the family circle as its main objective group or target, which in most cases includes the couple and the children; however, the parental community is extended with the assistance of grandparents, uncles and aunts, or other members who expand the field of interrelations of the members. That is why it is possible to include in the circles - created in the application - the participants that you prefer, because it is always necessary to locate, for example, the trajectory of the self-sufficient grandfather who, for health reasons, should not be without protection, even if it is virtual. Or, to that wise and attentive aunt who constantly worries about everyone's life and who, with her selfless dedication, could be the watchdog of the family group, to alert the other members in the eventualities that may arise.

Is on the basis of the above that we could focus on the idea that by nature, we human beings are social and we are socially integrated with others. We belong to circles like family, friends, study partners, work, neighborhood and other activities. But, aside of this, we are protectors and defenders. We try to defend or support those who are closest to us from a situation of threat or danger, and it is thanks to that social interaction that we have developed and built sophisticated habitats for our comfort. Networks that as they grow become more complex, and jeopardize the safety of the members of these human circles. A sensation that destabilizes the emotions of any human being who loves and wants to support loved ones.

And although these realities have become more complicated, we also have the technologies to face the complications of living in more insecure and complex cities, technologies that are created to facilitate urban life. All cities, in addition to growing in number of buildings, highways and industrial or commercial centers, also increase in residents, and with it the insecurities of being pedestrians, users of the public service, unsuspecting passers-by, buyers or visitors of common spaces. All the aspects that we must consider for inhabiting the cities of the new millennium. Therefore, leaving the comfort or security of home is already a fearless action that brings us closer to the unknown and deserves to take into account protections that are not superfluous, even more when it is the life of beings, that we love or appreciate, that may be at risk.

Now, to be more precise regarding the increase in inhabitants on the planet, as referred to in the previous paragraph, official data indicates that in 2018, the figure was close to 7,594 billion, with a growth rate per year of 1.1%; as exposed by the website: https://www.datosmundial.com/crecimiento-poblacional.php. These figures, rather than alarming, should lead to reflections related to safety, since living in overpopulated countries is synonymous with facing on a daily basis, insecurity and the danger of threats, not only caused by individuals or groups, but also by natural phenomena, aggravated by pollution, abuse of deforestation or misuse of all resources or to situations of health emergencies or pandemics.

Furthermore, this overpopulation issue must be complemented with the study of social security that understands (as specialists do) factors such as: political unrest or wars, crime, criminality and road safety. In other words, intentional or unintended risks or threats that endanger individual or collective integrity, which must also include gender-based violence, attacks on sexual freedom (rape), sexual harassment, school bullying or cyberbullying, violence against ethnic or collective minorities. It is for these aspects that Latin America has been classified, by the UN, as the most insecure and violent area of the planet, with areas that are restricted to visit or access. (Taken from: https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2019/07/08/la-onu-publico-su-informe-global-sobre-homicidios-venezuela-registro-la-tasa-mas-alta-de-sudamerica/). In addition, other sources mention countries that should be considered high risk, due to natural factors such as Japan and some Caribbean and Pacific islands, due to earthquakes or tidal waves.

Well, despite the negative situations mentioned, citizens cannot lock ourselves in four walls, so that nothing affects our security or the feeling of being safe, because on the other side of the alarming signs, there are specialists who, with technological advances, improve levels of tranquility or serve to counteract crime, accident or risk statistics. Within those technologies is MAPLO, which, for example, can help visualize - to worried parents - why a school bus, which normally spends thirty minutes, is taking an hour or more to get around. Perhaps the causes are due to road malfunctioning (poor signaling, asphalt breakdowns or repairs, detours, road accidents, etc.) that influence, delay or detour the school bus. Among other situations, we can also mention the case of the friend of the group who, thanks to networks or meeting places (such as Tinder, Grinder, etc.), was able to arrange a date with a stranger. Then for the support and solidarity of friends, it is feasible to download the location application, to follow its movements and to know the place where it is gathered, a technology that facilitates the safety of people who also form, circles of friendship.

In the same vein of the insecurity factors, it is not a secret that the figures of crime and delinquency have grown in the field of cell phone thefts. Considering that the designs and improvements in portable phones have been evolving to the point of having in a small device, everything you want from a computer. A refinement that attracts the attention of any individual and more, of those without purchasing power. This criminal phenomenon has grown in countries such as: Argentina with 256 million thefts per year, Colombia with 986 thousand, Brazil with 913 thousand and Ecuador with 511 thousand; data that was taken from: https://techcetera.co/estos-son-los-paises-en-donde-roban-mas-celulares-en-la-region/. In addition, the Institute for Economics and Peace's Global Peace Index highlights that the most insecure country in 2018 was Syria, followed by Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, Iraq and others like Russia. (Source: http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2018/06/Global-Peace-Index-2018-2.pdf.

Although this phenomenon grows exponentially compare to the manufacture and commercialization of mobile phones, we can now encourage the community to protect their investment with MAPLO. Its background geolocation technology continues to emit the location, even if the application has been closed or the phone is in your pocket or saved. This could help locate the stolen equipment or avoid thefts, because thinking about the user's security, it is not necessary to expose the mobile publicly at the time the application is used. What does this mean? In other words, the effectiveness of this technology does not need to risk whoever uses a Smartphone, especially in the areas of greatest danger from thefts, so that the family or friends circle knows its location.

At this point, it is necessary to refer to a highly relevant issue related to gender equality and how the promotion of women in all fields of knowledge, economic, labor and cultural, mark paths that have been transforming societies. A movement that opens both positive and negative spaces; the latter as part of sexual crimes in less egalitarian societies. Among the crimes related to abuse, are rapes, femicide, harassment and violence in all its manifestations: psychological, corporal, partner, family and social. It is enough to review the statistics and the countries where gender violence is most present, to understand that it is part of social insecurity.

One of the official sources on female violence is the Observatory for Gender Equality (OIG) of Latin America and the Caribbean, dependent on the UN (https://oig.cepal.org/es/indicadores/feminicidio), which exposes between the countries with the highest rate of femicide to: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Honduras, Salvador and others, such as Spain and Italy; with records among 1200 women murdered per year. And, although in Europe the complaints in the media are not yet officially highlighted, the European Women's Lobby (EWL) as the largest organization of women's associations in the European Union (EU) collects and analyzes the rates of homicides and violence to women.

The context previously exposed on one of the most worrisome social problems of the moment, has a lot to do with the proposal of this new application. Since women are part of the target group that it is intended to reach, it facilitates the new expressions of feminine independence to which women from all over the world are entitled. Thus, for example, tranquility recovers when parents or relatives are concerned about their daughter's activities -feminist leader- while marching for the celebration of women's right. The route programmed by the activists will be observed in detail and the arrival point will be located exactly. Then, the family attitude will not be to prohibit to avoid fortuitous events, but to support or seek the safe and responsible way of the actions that the members of the group can and should carry out.

Here, it is worth stopping for a moment to propose a look at the creator of the MAPLO application: Lucas, who, due to his studies and experience in systems engineering, manages the appropriate technologies to turn this application not into a control and surveillance tool, but in a proposal of mutual support from families, friends and groups of acquaintances. A project based on his own history, when he as a member of a couple who from the comfort of his apartment waited for Camila to come home from his postgraduate study night. A time that seemed not to elapse, especially when there was no way of knowing the route she would take, or at what hours she could arrive. Annoying uncertainty that began to be the genesis of his project to find an answer to the problems of: insecurity and uneasiness. A design that had to coordinate a series of capabilities of the location and tracking mechanism of people, so that the mobile did not need to have the application open, and that the travel history was automatically saved or the signal was maintained, even if it was closed. As well the mobile platforms, since the couple had Android and Apple. In fact, one of the features, most prominent at the moment, is that the application can be downloaded on these two platforms, without compatibility problems.

Perhaps these personal experiences are not unique or exclusive to a few, because every human being who loves, cares about the safety of their loved ones. Strives to be the support and protection of those who are in their close circles. In addition, because these common experiences are the factors that gave rise to the creation of MAPLO, with the aim of facilitating the various ways of acting, such as: female independence, adolescent boldness, the energy of the athlete, determination and protection of a father and a mother, the limitless surrender of lovers or protective family members. In short, MAPLO is the technology to help individuals face the insecurities of the new millennium.