India makes it compulsory for phones to have panic buttons for women safety

Government of India has announced that starting next year (2017) all mobile phones sold in India will require to have a physical panic button installed. The physical panic button will be mandatory for all mobile devices sold starting January 2017, and by January 2018, every new handset will require a built-in GPS system.

The Government has taken this move in a bid to make mobile phone as an effective tool for self protection, especially for women. Pressing the panic button will alert designated relative, friends and police for an immediate response in case of emergency or other security related issues.

On smartphone, the function will trigger either by pressing the power button three times (which don't have panic button) or by long pressing the physical panic button. On feature phone, the panic button will activate, when users press '5' or '9' key.

From January 2018 all mobiles including feature phones will require to have a in-built GPS system to help locate a user's location in the events of distress or harassment.

The measure is one of several steps taken by the Indian government to tackle the growing problem of rape attacks on women in the country.