California complaint filed re: ELERTS and San Francisco BART

As the leading provider of See Something Say Something mobile apps for transit systems in North America, ELERTS takes the issues of public safety and privacy very seriously.   These apps are designed to allow citizens to quickly and discreetly report safety and security concerns to authorities. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is one of ELERTS’ customers, and uses the BART Watch app to enable its riders to report concerns.

ELERTS is committed to protecting and preserving the privacy of app users, while providing the most effective and easy-to- use crowd-sourced incident reporting system. ELERTS’ solution enhances public safety in a variety of settings, from public transportation to private enterprise.

A complaint was filed May 22, 2017 in US District Court in Oakland CA, concerning the manner in which the BART Watch transit app collects and uses certain user information. ELERTS takes these allegations seriously and is exploring ways to maximize transparency for mobile app users.  The app already makes disclosure to, and obtains permission from, mobile app users about the information it utilizes to facilitate public safety and incident reporting. In the meantime, ELERTS will continue to protect the public with the secure and private capabilities of its mobile apps and backend cloud services for public transits, education, hospitals and private enterprise.

BART has also issued a statement regarding the lawsuit. It can be found here.