Hate crimes have been an unfortunate part of our history, with many minority groups simply putting up with these offences or suffering in silence. Even with the amount of media attention these crimes have been receiving recently, perpetrators often get away and commit further acts of terror against vulnerable groups. To take a stand against this issue, we created Civsafe.

Civsafe is an application that empowers citizens and leverages blockchain technology to support individuals and businesses affected by hate crimes, as well as to make the capture of perpetrators more efficient.

Using the app, witnesses of a hate crime are able to quickly access a form to report the incident. The information is sent to our server, and then uploaded immediately to the IPFS blockchain. This way, we ensure that a record of the incident is publicly available to promote awareness and transparency. This is especially important in areas of the country or world where case files can be swept under the rug or witness statements come into question due to police corruption or negligence. We save the hash identifier of the document so we always have an accurate record of the initial report.

Upon filing the form, the location of the incident is logged on an interactive map. Other users or our app in the local vicinity get an alert of the incident and are encouraged to stay vigilant. They are sent a picture of the suspect if available, and have the option to report a sighting or support the investigation. A sighting can be reported by placing markers on the interactive map, which we hope will help point authorities in the right direction when tracking the perpetrator.

Users also have the option to provide long term support for victims or to the investigation. Businesses and individuals affected by hate crimes or violence can opt in to be listed on our platform. And users can click on each listing to learn more about what happened. The individual or business can provide updates to the community on how they are recovering from the incident and whether they need support.

Concerned community members who wish to help out can click to learn more about the case, and contribute financial support via cash or file coins to support the business. Or to provide a reward for the capture of the suspect.

While our initial application is targeted towards solving the pressing issue of hate crimes, it can be implemented for other aspects of collective safety and care. Such as tracking lost or abducted children, assaults, or other dangers to society. Civsafe gives us all a platform to keep each other safe.

Used Node.js, Swift, Blockchain

Our group was in three different time zones(EST, PST, IST), and some of us had limited exposure to blockchain/javascript We were able to establish a connection between our app, server, and the blockchain. However, we're still having some issues transferring the data. Something to keep working at! https://ipfs.infura.io/ipfsQmZhRYdRoU862tyDPzstbohGpjijRU3ZxV9SXhwBg1xfpk

Over the past few days, we learned a lot about how the frontend and backend connects, and we were ultimately able to connect Xcode to node.js and use ipfs.

We are working on a more suitable option that applies to variety of circumstances, not just hate crimes.