The I Sea app was hailed around the world following its release, even winning a bronze medal at the Cannes Lions conference on Monday night, but all the positive reviews were misplaced.
Essentially claiming to crowdsource the rescue of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean, a journey that has cost thousands of lives in recent years, the app seemed like a simple way to help address the ongoing crisis. But it wasn't helping anyone and the app has now been removed from Apple's iOS App Store.
Originally, the creative director for Grey Group, a Singapore-based ad agency that designed the app, said that "the app uses an algorithm that divides the satellite images of the sea into thousands of smaller plots," according to The Guardian . Continuing, he explained that "each of these plots is then sent or assigned to different users so they can view the plot through the app. The user will receive a notification on their phone that will prompt them to check their plot – a simple task that will take no more than one minute at most."
The app claimed that users would be able to scan the sea and send coordinates of floundering refugee boats to the Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).
But instead of all these features, only a static image of one specific area of the Mediterranean was accessible. Even weather reports that the app claimed were from the middle of the Mediterranean were actually just readings from Western Libya. Furthermore, the Guardian reported that the app's login page was "hard-coded to always reply 'invalid username / password!'"
"We were dismayed to discover that real time images were not being used. We have since discontinued our relationship with Grey for Good and spoken candidly about our disappointment to the media," MOAS told The Guardian.