What reporting can we get access to after deploying R;pple?

R;pple cannot report on data within your organisation. The purpose of the R;pple tool is to provide crisis intervention and immediate signposting to mental health support. This is where and when the person seeing these details, decides whether to follow that redirection, a personal choice.

We have thought long and hard about the possibility of collecting data analysis within organisations who have deployed R;pple. After careful consideration, we have come to the decision not to develop versions of R;pple which could report analysis for a specific company or organisation. The reasons for this decision include the following:

• Sensitivity - self-harm and suicidal ideation is a very sensitive subject. Reporting back on someone’s search history may have an adverse effect on the individual who is experiencing mental health crisis.
• Data Protection – feedback from our users, lived experience panels and clinicians has shown a strong preference for data protection, meaning we should not gain any access to information that could identify a person or their intentions.
• Personal Choice – R;pple provides an interception when an individual is conducting harmful online searches. Is it down to the individual as to whether they choose to  utilise the support offered by R;pple or continue their search. We are not able to block people from accessing content outright, but we can provide support to individuals at their most vulnerable point in the hope they choose to utilise it.

Customer data is something we actively seek to avoid, at every turn. Our mission is to get R;pple onto as many machines as possible and to provide a vital safety net of support if somebody is researching a way to end their own life.

Evaluating the effectiveness of R;pple

Management and senior leadership within organisations whoare interested in implementing R;pple, or who have already deployed R;pple,should be aware that it should not be financially evaluated in the same way asother technological investments for the business.

If R;pple has never been triggered within your organisation,it simply means that, fortunately, none of your employees have conductedharmful online research about taking their own life on their corporate device.

However, if one of your employees does conduct harmfulonline searches in the future, R;pple is there to incept that action andsignpost them to immediate mental health support.   

In the same way that a business invests in anti-virussoftware to protect their technology from malware, they would not simplydeactivate or cancel their anti-virus software subscription because thebusiness has not been subject to a cyber-attack, as that would subsequentlyleave the business vulnerable to cyber-attacks in the future.

Similarly, a business should not determine if R;pple is ‘successful’ or not based upon the number of interventions the tool has made.

The R;pple tool is a unique piece of tech that adds to your duty of care towards employees (and students, when considered within an Educational establishment). R;pple is a crisis intervention tool that provides signposting to mental health support following harmful online searches. The technology can complement your CSR strategy and also enhances your commitment to improving mental health for your workforce.