Send video and your location to a trusted contact while you record

Someone else has the material, and can know where you are, without you doing anything in the moment.

If you are detained, a recording on your phone helps nobody else until it reaches someone. Witness can share each recording with a contact you name, and can send your last known location when you decide to. This page explains how, and where it stops. Written by the developer of Witness Camera, so read it with that in mind; where another approach is better, it says so.

Short answer. In Witness you name an emergency contact once, with a name or just a phone number. With Google Drive or Dropbox the contact is granted access to each recording's folder as footage arrives, so someone else has your material if you are detained. During a recording a location button lets you send your last known position to your emergency contacts by text and email, but nothing is sent until you tap Send yourself. WebDAV and Nextcloud cannot share automatically, so you share the folder yourself.

Two separate things

Footage sharing. The contact is given access to each recording's folder in your storage automatically as footage arrives. This works through the storage provider's own sharing, on Google Drive and Dropbox.
Location alert. A button during a recording sends your last known position to your emergency contacts by text and email. You tap Send; the app never sends it on its own.

Setting it up

Connect your storage in Witness.
Add an emergency contact. You can add one with just a phone number.
Choose who: an editor, a legal-support number, a colleague. A person who is reachable and awake matters more than a person who is close.
Test it: record 30 seconds and check the contact can open the folder.

Why sharing works the way it does

Because Witness has no server, sharing has to go through your storage provider's own interface. That is why it works on Google Drive and Dropbox and not on WebDAV, which has no sharing mechanism. The developer chose that limitation over holding a copy of your footage.

Limits

The contact sees the footage, not you. Agree in advance what they will do with it.
A location text depends on your phone having a signal and a last known position.
If your contact is a teenager's parent, or the reverse, agree it first: live footage is a significant privacy matter for the person recording.

Questions

Can Witness send my recordings to someone automatically?

Yes. Name an emergency contact, and with Google Drive or Dropbox they are given access to each recording's folder as footage arrives. WebDAV and Nextcloud cannot share automatically.

Does Witness send my location without asking?

No. A button during recording lets you send your last known position to your emergency contacts by text and email, and nothing goes out until you tap Send.

Does my contact need the app?

No. They are given access to a folder in your storage account, and for the location message they receive a text and email.

Can I add a contact with just a phone number?

Yes. An emergency contact can be added with just a phone number.

Try it free

The free app includes this. Set it up and test it before you need it.

Get Witness Camera for Free Get it on Google Play

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Written on 27 October 2026. Features and prices change. This is not legal advice.