BeSafe: Instant Criminal History Check App

Introduction: In today’s fast-paced world, connecting with strangers has become easier than ever, but this convenience often comes with risks. With the rise of online dating, new friendships, and social interactions, the question arises: How do we truly know who we are interacting with? That’s when I decided to create BeSafe, a mobile app designed to empower users to check anyone’s criminal history in seconds, ensuring their safety and peace of mind.

The Problem: People are constantly meeting new individuals—whether it’s online or offline—and our biggest concern is always safety. In most cases, we never know if the person we are talking to has a criminal past or poses a potential threat. The app needed to bridge that gap and provide users with an easy, quick, and reliable solution to validate whether someone has a criminal record.

The Solution: Using Anything, I built BeSafe as a simple yet powerful solution to address this growing concern. With a user-friendly interface, BeSafe allows users to input basic details like name, date of birth, and location to instantly check if someone has a criminal history.

The app leverages publicly available criminal records databases, including the FBI, NSOPW, and Google Custom Search API, making real-time searches seamless and highly accurate.

BeSafe is especially designed with women’s safety in mind, providing them with peace of mind when meeting new people.

Key Features of the App:

Instant Criminal Record Check: Users can check criminal histories instantly by inputting minimal information.

Real-Time Data: The app fetches up-to-date criminal data from trusted databases.

Safety Alerts: Sends notifications for any criminal activity nearby to keep users informed.

Smooth User Experience: Built with Anything’s powerful platform, the app delivers a sleek, modern interface that’s intuitive and responsive.

Personalized Safety Tips: Offers in-app suggestions on how to stay safe in any situation, with quick access to emergency contacts and services.

Technologies Used:

Anything: For building the app and integrating with public criminal databases and APIs.

Google Custom Search: To search across trusted public criminal records.

NSOPW & FBI Database Integration: To retrieve real-time criminal history reports.

Challenges and Solutions: During development, one of the key challenges was ensuring accurate data retrieval while minimizing credit usage. The solution involved integrating Google Custom Search and utilizing the public API endpoints for criminal records, which reduced the load on servers and made the app efficient and lightweight.

The Impact: Since launching BeSafe, the app has helped countless users make informed decisions about the people they meet. With a growing user base, the app has also been recognized for its potential to significantly improve personal safety, especially for women, who face unique challenges in today’s world.

Future Vision: Moving forward, I have plans to expand BeSafe with new features like real-time police alerts, emergency contact sharing, and integration with local law enforcement agencies. I also envision using AI and machine learning to improve the app’s data accuracy and functionality, making it even more efficient and user-friendly.

Why This Project is Special: Building BeSafe using Anything was a game-changer. The platform allowed me to quickly prototype, integrate APIs, and deploy the app with ease. It also gave me the flexibility to adapt the project’s scope as I went along, making it one of the most rewarding projects of my career.

Conclusion: With BeSafe, I am helping users take control of their safety, offering them an easy way to verify the people they interact with and providing peace of mind. This app embodies the very essence of what Anything can do: turning ideas into impactful, real-world solutions.