RSCE Staff Safety Status

Secure, Offline Safety Status and Location Reporting for UN Personnel

The RSCE Staff Safety Mobile App is a secure, lightweight, and purpose-built tool designed to help RSCE personnel quickly communicate safety status updates during emergencies. The application supports both UN Staff and their registered dependents, providing a fast and reliable channel to send critical information directly to the UNDSS-RSCE Security Operations Centre (SOC).

The application is built natively for Android using Kotlin Compose frameworks, relying solely on standard platform libraries. No third-party libraries are included. Communication with the SOC occurs through SMS messages sent, using default messaging app, to a predefined and secured number. All messages sent from the app appear in the device’s SMS history for transparency.
During registration, users submit their details through a simple form.

For UN Staff, the app collects: Name, UNID, mobile number, office/mission, official email address, residence address, and next-of-kin contact.

For Dependents, the app collects: Name, mobile number, sponsoring staff member’s UNID, name, mission/agency, email, mobile number, and residence address.

When sending a Safety Status Update, the following information is transmitted:
– Status type (Safe, Emergency: Medical, Emergency: Non-Medical)
– Sender’s mobile number
– Current GPS location (latitude, longitude, Google Maps link)
– Staff or dependent identifiers, depending on the user type

Location is only captured and transmitted when a user initiates a status update.

The app also includes a single-tap emergency dialing feature that connects users to the UNDSS emergency hotline stored within the application. Each installation of the app supports the registration of one individual only, and all registration data is stored securely within the device.

Data Collected:
• Name, UN ID, email address, and phone number during registration.
• Optional GPS location shared only when the user chooses to report status.
• Safety status selections (Safe, Emergency: Medical, Emergency: Non-Medical).
• Dependent information linked to a sponsoring staff member.

How Data Is Used:
• All collected data is sent exclusively via SMS to the UNDSS RSCE SOC.
• Information is used only for safety monitoring, staff accountability, and emergency response.

Consent:
• Location data is transmitted strictly with explicit user action and consent.
• Dependent registrations require reference to, and validation of, a sponsoring UN staff member.

Security Measures:
• All SMS messages are received and handled within secure UNDSS RSCE infrastructure.
• Registration information is validated against official UN staff directories.
• Numbers that fail validation are permanently blocked from the system.