The Ministry of Interior has launched the Hemayati application on Blackberry App World and Windows Phone Store to promote children's safety and protection using the latest smart technologies.
Major-General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary-General of the Office of H.H. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, said, "This step personifies the ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Interior to develop smart interactive services via mobile phones. The application is available free of charge on smartphones, exclusively in the U.A.E., and is activated by parents only." Al Nuaimi stressed the keenness of the Ministry of Interior to achieve its vision according to the U.A.E.'s National Agenda for the next seven years, via an array of projects and initiatives related to police and security work.
Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Mohammed Al Shimmari, Head of the Cyber Security Subcommittee, at the Ministry of Interior, mentioned that this development reflects the Ministry of Interior's keenness through the various initiatives, to provide the necessary protection to children against all kind of dangers, especially while they are in contact with the virtual world.
He added, "The application provides parents with the ability to keep track of their children's whereabouts at all times, to know that they did or didn't reach school or any other public destination on time. The parents will be automatically notified in case their children fail to reach the specific destination." The application allows the parents to communicate with their children around the clock, and includes a built-in feature that enables children to send distress calls to their parents when they feel threatened. It also provides the ability to forward the signal to Abu Dhabi Police with a single click, in the form of a "Smart SOS", which will be given priority, with a response time of only four minutes.
Family members can communicate through the application by clicking on the picture of one of the family member on the map after which the name and the last known whereabouts of the latter appear. They can call or text or request a location. These features will be only accessible to family members through a chat called "private group". The application features secure specifications, due to its privacy policy. It helps to determine the whereabouts of children in case they go missing