You need a Facebook account to use Predator Alert Tool for Facebook. To use this app, simply visit apps.facebook.com/predator-alert-tool and click “Log in with Facebook.” This page is a technical overview. For an easy-to-follow user’s guide instead, please read, “Learn More About Your Date Before It’s Too Late,” by Angela Alcorn.
The Predator Alert Tool for Facebook is designed for survivors of sexual assault and rape. It allows you to share information about people in your social network who may be dangerous without having to reveal your identity.
Using Predator Alert Tool for Facebook, you can:
- Talk about it. Contribute your story with as much or as little detail as you feel comfortable sharing.
- Decide who knows. Control who gets to see your story and who doesn’t. Display your identity only to the people you choose.
- Get support. Connect with friends who have had a bad experience with the same person you did.
- Hear about it. Find out about others’ bad experiences with people you know.
Overview
This software is a social justice technology project designed to graft anti-rape culture features directly onto the way Facebook.com works. It is free and open source software unencumbered by patent, copyright, or other legal claims of ownership. (See the accompanying LICENSE file for legalese.)
How it works
There are two major parts to the Predator Alert Tool for Facebook software. The first is a server-side Facebook app where Facebook users can share about an experience they had regarding any other Facebook user’s behavior. The second is a browser-side tool that automatically searches for any stories about the people who show up on your Facebook timeline and newsfeed as you browse Facebook.com. If it finds any, the tool “red-boxes” links to those people’s profiles and offers a link to the stories it found.
Both of these pieces work independently. You can use the Predator Alert Tool for Facebook app inside Facebook without ever installing the browser-side tool on your device, and you can use the browser-side tool without ever allowing the Facebook app access to your Facebook account. (However, in the latter case, the tool will only be able to find stories shared with everyone, not friends-only or other visibility-restricted stories.) Both tools are contained in this repository and are released to the public domain.
User manual and documentation
Inside the docs/ directory, you’ll find both user and developer documentation. The same information is also available on the Predator Alert Tool for Facebook project’s wiki on GitHub. That’s also where you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions.
Reporting bugs and other issues
If you find a problem with this software, which can be defined as anything from “I did X but Y happened, which I did not expect” to “I think these words should be different because they don’t clearly explain what’s about to happen when I click this button,” please check to make sure that your issue hasn’t already been reported and, if it hasn’t been, write a “bug report” so the issue can be addressed constructively.
The way you do this is:
- Go to https://github.com/meitar/pat-facebook/issues and skim the open issues to see if one describing your issue has already been reported. If it has not already been reported, continue to the next step. If it has been, just leave a comment letting us know you ran into the issue as well.
- Read “How to write a good bug report” if you haven’t already done so.
- Copy the template that the above post provides into the form at https://github.com/meitar/pat-facebook/issues/new (You will need to sign up for a free GitHub.com account if you don’t already have one.)
- Fill in the template you copied, and submit the form.
Supporting this project
This project is 100% volunteer-run. There are no paid developers. There is no staff.
There is also no budget.
It takes time, heart, and material resources to ensure that this software continues to function, much less is improved on over time. If you can afford to do so, please consider making a donation in the form of food or money to its houseless, nomadic developer at Cyberbusking.org. Thank you very much.
by Jake Mckenna
15 Oct 2013 at 08:29
Hey! I think this is a really great idea, and it’s awesome that people (specifically you) are coming up with ways of safeguarding people online, when social networks are so lazy about it.
However, I have a small point of concern – if this becomes a widely used tool (as it should), is it possible that personal issues between people/groups of friends/etc could generate false reports?
I don’t know how easy it is to submit a report, or whether you have already thought about this sort of thing, but it’s just something that I think /might/ need to be taken into consideration. I know that in many cases, vigilante justice on the internet can be misguided and hateful, with people using their friends to pour scorn onto someone who may not deserve it.
However, these concerns are much less important than being able to start protecting people on social networks from further harm. Thank you very much for your work!
by maymay
15 Oct 2013 at 09:08
Jake Mckenna, your question is so common it’s addressed in the FAQ. Please read:
I think you’re exactly right when you say,
Thanks for the kudos.
by C
19 Oct 2013 at 12:54
This is amazing. At your FAQ is wonderfully written. Thank you.
by Jypsi
22 Mar 2014 at 17:22
How to get it?
by maymay
22 Mar 2014 at 19:03
Jypsi, to get the Predator Alert Tool for Facebook and add it to your Facebook account to begin using it immediately, go to https://apps.facebook.com/predator-alert-tool and click on “Log in with Facebook to start using Predator Alert Tool.”
by Vilde
21 Nov 2014 at 12:36
Do you need to have the app yourself to see people’s stories (when they post them publicly)?
by maymay
21 Nov 2014 at 12:46
No, Vilde, public stories are visible to everyone on the Internet, just like any other public web page. You do not need a Facebook account to view stories shared publicly. This works exactly the same way as not needing a Facebook account to view status updates that people share with the “Public.”
You can learn more about Predator Alert Tool for Facebook’s visibility settings from the User Manual section on Statement Visibility.
by Vilde
21 Nov 2014 at 13:01
That’s good. Thank you for the information!