A Singapore-based ad firm has been outed for allegedly carrying out the despicable act of jumping on people’s sympathies about the refugee situation to build up hype for their agency.

Grey Digital Singapore — in collaboration with the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) — garnered acclaim from the likes of Wired and Reuters for coming up with “I Sea”, a crowdsourcing app that promises (promised?) to do the noble act of saving refugees lost in the Mediterranean Sea.

Purportedly, all who downloaded the app will be able to play the part of rescuing refugees by way of scanning satellite images of a particular plot of ocean to spot astray migrant boats. Meaning users could help alert the authorities who’ll dispatch a rescue convoy to the flagged spot on the map — even while commuting on the MRT.

Noble and innovative enough, no? “We wanted to bring technology in for people who have free time to watch the seas and are eager to help in the refugee crisis,” enthused a Grey Group executive creative director Low Jun Jek to Mashable. Oh and look, they even won an award for the app at the Cannes Lions International in France.

It’s just too effin’ bad that the app doesn’t even work.

Technologists did not see the merits of “I Sea” when it was tested out for real. Novelty Twitter account @SwiftOnSecurity (who posits advice and commentaries on information security in the voice of Taylor Swift) was one of the first to call bullshit on the app.

Other technologists have also come out to point out how “I Sea” is simply a sham. Multiple app developers have since pointed out that the app virtually did nothing it claimed to do. The Daily Dot reports that the app sent everyone the same static (and outdated) image of the Mediterranean Sea, used weather conditions from Libya to make it all feel “live”, and displays pictures taken during the day even when it’s night time in the Mediterranean Sea. Flagging coordinates requires keying in personal details (including passport info), which is especially shady considering you can’t find their privacy policy.

Photo: MOAS

All in all, an apparent sham. Apple thinks so too — they’ve righteously removed it from their app store, Gawker reports.

Requests for comments by MOAS made by The Daily Dot have been redirected to app developers Grey for Good (Grey’s philanthropic arm). Presumably inundated by mountains of requests to comment, Grey issued a post on their website explaining that their app is in “testing mode” and that the satellite images available are not in real-time. Then how the heck is the app supposed to do what it was meant to do? Why was it available to download in the first place? Why did they even win an award for something that’s not even functional?

“Grey for Good are still working to optimise the technology, but we are proud of what we have achieved so far and are grateful to all those who have shown interest in helping to improve the app further,” they wrote.

“The continued interest and suggestions from people who have already tried it around the world, especially on this, World Refugee Day, are all valued opinions which will be incorporated into the final product.”

Shady things are afoot. We’ve reached out to Grey for their comments on the issue.

Grove: Coconuts Brand Studio

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