A personal safety app has been launched by the mother of murdered Adelaide schoolgirl Carly Ryan.
Sonya Ryan - whose 15-year-old daughter was groomed online and murdered by a pedophile in 2007 - has launched Thread, a free safety app allowing users to alert family, friends and emergency services to their location.
"If a teenager is at a friend's house or a party and feels unsure of their safety, they can discreetly send their location to their emergency contacts," Ms Ryan said on Monday.
"If Carly had this technology, the outcome may have been different for her."
The teenager was groomed by pedophile Garry Francis Newman, a Victorian man who is serving a minimum of 29 years for her murder.
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In 2007, Newman used a cyberspace alter-ego, "Brandon Kane", to communicate with Carly after contacting her on a gothic vampire website.
She fell in love with the fictitious guitarist who portrayed himself as a member of the "emo" subculture.
But when 47-year-old Newman travelled to Adelaide in a bid to fulfil his sexual fantasies, Carly rejected his advances.
Evidence at the trial revealed she had been bashed, suffocated and drowned in the water at Port Elliott, south of Adelaide.
Children's eSafety Commissioner Alastair MacGibbon labelled the app as a "powerful tool" in protecting children against predators.
"Especially in those vulnerable situations, whether it involves meeting a stranger online or family violence," he said.
