A “button” on a mobile phone can save a woman’s life. How can this happen; The panic button application allows you to immediately notify the Greek police in case of danger or threat to the life or physical integrity of the person using it. The application, which will be launched in a pilot mode in a few days, will be provided to women victims of domestic violence who go to police stations or are served by the advice centers of the General Secretariat Network for Demographic and Family Policy and Gender Equality (GDOPIF).

How will it work and how will the threatened and risked woman use it? With a numeric code that she will receive to install the application on her mobile phone.

The first step is to register the application. The panic button can be installed on mobile phones (smartphones) with smart technology that support ios and android software, regardless of the mobile operator with which the registered person has an agreement. To register in the application, it is necessary to fill in the name, social security number (AMKA), place of residence and contact information of the beneficiary, and enter the digital code provided by the competent services, at the same time, any other necessary information is also entered information requested by the beneficiary. It is worth noting that the process of registering and filling in the necessary personal information is carried out at your own peril and risk, as it gives a direct consent to the terms of use.

Once the registration process is completed, the woman has the opportunity to notify the Attica emergency number (“100”) by pressing the appropriate indicator on the screen of her mobile phone, in case she is in immediate danger or in danger to the life of his or her physical integrity. If the incident concerns the Thessaloniki Regional Unit, the Attica Rapid Response Unit immediately informs the relevant Thessaloniki service.

By clicking on the indicator on the mobile phone screen, the application is activated and an instant SMS is sent to the business center of the direct action department of Attica, with the necessary personalized information of the registered person, which is registered as application data on the mobile phone, as well as a link to the geolocation of a woman at risk, displayed when the application is activated.

The competent police authorities that have received a complaint about domestic violence inform the woman who has become a victim about the possibility of installing the PANIC BUTTON application on her mobile device, as well as about the procedure and conditions for installation and use.

In the event that a woman wishes to register with the application, she is assigned a numeric code to log in and complete the installation process of the application. The application is removed from your mobile phone by the registrant himself.

An appropriate competent counselor of the counseling center, when providing social, psychological and legal support services and in the context of informing the counseled woman about the benefits to which she is entitled, if she considers, after a risk assessment, that there are serious risk factors for violence, informs about the possibility of obtaining the application “Alarming button”, as well as the procedure and conditions for its installation and use.

If a woman declares that she wants to register in the application, she fills out and signs an application in which she asks to register in the application and install it on the mobile device indicated by her. After that, the competent consultant provides the consulted woman with a numerical code for her inclusion in the application and registration in it. The completed and signed application is stored by the competent consultant in a separate file from the personal file of the woman being served, and the PANIC BUTTON application remains available to the woman even after the interruption or end of the counseling process and is deleted from her mobile device alone when she wishes.

The panic button application runs in the General Secretariat of Public Administration Information Systems (GIPSDD) database of the Ministry of Digital Governance under the name “PANIC COMBI (Panic Button)”.

The encrypted data in the PANIC BUTTON database is as follows:

a. Social Security Number (SIN)

b. Full name

in. Telephone number

d. Address of residence (with number and zip code in separate fields)

e. Name written on the residence doorbell

e. Residential floor

g. Having a history of abuse

h. Evidence of gun ownership

i. Evidence for the existence of children

j. Evidence of history of substance abuse

I. Evidence of a history of psychological disorders

l. Pregnancy indication

m. Application user ID assigned to the user

With regard to the protection of personal data, it should be noted that authorized users who receive the numeric codes stored in the GISPSDD database will apply the security structure of the GISPSDD information systems of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and the regulations on the protection of personal data.

The pilot application will last one year, and after its completion it will be evaluated by the competent services of the ministries of labor and social affairs and the protection of citizens.

Source: RES-IPE