Samaritans urged to withdraw Twitter app over monitoring

The Samaritans suicide prevention charity has insisted it is taking “very seriously” concerns about privacy issues with a new app it has launched to allow people monitor the mental health of others they follow on Twitter.

Samaritans Radar allows users to sign up for email notifications when anyone they follow uses certain keywords that may indicate they are having mental health difficulties or are suicidal. This would happen without the knowledge of the person who is tweeting.

An online petition was started at the weekend urging the Samaritans to withdraw the app. The organisation said 3,000 people had signed up to use it by last Friday, equating to just over 1.64 million Twitter streams being monitored.

Those being monitored will not get any notification unless the person who receives the alert chooses to approach them to ask after their welfare. Individuals’ tweets are scanned by an algorithm without their knowledge or consent.

People who have had mental health issues, as well as privacy campaigners, lawyers and data protection experts have been critical of the app since its launch last Wednesday. They have highlighted their concerns using the Twitter hashtag #SamaritansRadar.

Some have urged the Samaritans to withdraw it, claiming it violates people’s privacy and that it may enhance the ability of stalkers and online trolls to target those who are vulnerable.

Director of policy, research and development with the Samaritans, Joe Ferns, said at the heart of the organisation's work was "the belief that ordinary people listening to the problems and feelings of one another can make a big difference to people struggling to cope".

It wanted to reassure Twitter users that the Samaritans does not receive alerts about people’s tweets.

Mr Ferns said the organisation had worked with academic experts, young people with mental health problems, Twitter, and Samaritans volunteers in developing the app.

“We are looking into the details of the issues raised in more detail, including working with the relevant regulatory authorities, and will continue to take action as needed to address these concerns appropriately going forward.”

Paul Bernal, a lecturer in IT and media law at the University of East Anglia said in a blog post he would like Samaritans to withdraw the app and "have a rethink".

Public forum

Dr Bernal said anyone who uses Twitter often, and anyone with any understanding of vulnerable people should “see beyond the technical question of whether a tweet is ‘public’ or not”.

“The logic behind the Samaritans Radar approach to privacy is simple: tweets are ‘public’, therefore they’re fair game to be scanned and analysed,” he said.

“Privacy, both in the ‘real’ world and on Twitter, doesn’t work like that. It’s far more complex and nuanced and anyone who thinks in those simple terms is fundamentally misunderstanding privacy.”

Ian Power, executive director of the youth organisation spunout.ie, which promotes healthy living in order to “prevent and positively intervene in harmful behaviour”, took a different view, however. Mr Power noted the Samaritans had “a very successful partnership with Facebook whereby their helpline details are shared with users reported to have posted distressed material by their friends on the platform”.

“It’s clear Radar needs some modifications to perhaps follow such a model which is working well, in order to have the confidence of those who wish to express themselves in times of distress or illness.”

He added: “Given the importance of keeping our data safe and secure, we must also ask ourselves; are there instances where our own personal safety trumps that of our data? I personally think there are such circumstances.”

The Samaritans, which lists confidentiality as one of its key values, has more than 200 branches in the UK and Ireland, with about 2,800 volunteers here.

Last year, Facebook changed how it contacts users who may be at risk of suicide, abandoning the previous system whereby it passed email addresses directly to support organisations, including the Samaritans.

The company made the changes after discussions with the Data Protection Commissioner.

A spokeswoman for the commissioner said the office had not had any queries about the Samaritans app as of late last week.

Its equivalent in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office, said it was aware of concerns raised about the app and that it was contacting the Samaritans to find out more about how it works.