LexisNexis has announced the winner of “Hack the Change” hackathon, which brought together more than 40 coders, developers and designers over 48 hours, tasked with prototyping solutions to connect lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people with those documenting and fighting discrimination.
The winning concept, the brainchild of the team “Suitcase Hackers”, was the creation of a tool within Snapchat. Witnesses and victims of hate crime will be able to upload evidence as images, videos and documentation securely through the application. This information will be safely stored in the cloud to allow the evidence to be verified by lawyers and NGOs. To protect user anonymity and safety, the tool will appear as any other contact within the app, making it difficult for anyone searching through the user’s phone to detect.
The event was hosted by LexisNexis and The Human Dignity Trust, and supported by Amazon Web Services, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Osborne Clarke. The design will now be brought to life by the Human Dignity Trust.
Approximately 4bn people live outside the protection of the rule of law, with both direct discrimination, and poor enforcement of laws and abuses by the state contributing to this figure. This Hackathon for LGBT rights is the first in a series of of game-changing Hack the Change events, coordinated by LexisNexis, to help radically change these odds.
LexisNexis Hack the Change lead, Amy Carton, said: “We passionately support combating hate crime by progressing the rule of law globally. Right now, people around the world are routinely attacked, threatened or intimidated simply because of who they are. This results in the oppression of entire communities. 75 countries currently criminalise the lives of LGBT people, representing approximately 40% of the worlds population. This will not be solved overnight – but timely reporting and documenting of these crimes is a vital first step. It was exciting and inspiring to see so many technologists, designers, developers and legal expert come together to make a positive difference in the world. We look forward to seeing the winning design actively impact lives for the better.”