Digital Guardian for Children Launches in Mari El
The Republic of Mari El has launched Araltysh, a chatbot that lets children instantly alert parents in an emergency and share their location. The service became available through the MAX messaging app on June 1.
The new digital assistant was launched at the initiative of the Youth Parliament of Mari El. The idea came from Ksenia Yakunina, a mother of many children and a member of the parliament. Development was led by Sergey Yakunin, who previously created ONAR, a digital assistant for Russian military personnel involved in the Ukraine conflict. The name Araltysh means "protective talisman" in the Mari language.
The service can determine a child's location with an accuracy of 10 to 15 meters using Google Maps, Yandex Maps, Yandex Navigator, or 2GIS. The MAX messenger was chosen in part because it can operate in areas with weak cellular coverage. A single account can be linked to multiple children and multiple adults. The service does not collect personal data, and children may choose not to share their geolocation.
Developers plan to expand the service in the future to cover all residents of the republic, particularly mushroom foragers, anglers, older adults, and teachers.
