If something happens,
it is already recorded.
You scanned a sticker, or you found this on your own. Here is what it means. If you are stopped by police, you say one word — and your camera records, someone you chose is told where you are, and the footage is somewhere safe before the stop is even over. You never touch your phone.
Why a record you cannot lose is self-protection
A recording that only lives on your phone can be deleted off your phone. Seized, wiped, broken — and it is gone. The Witness makes the footage leave your phone the instant it starts, so by the time anyone could take your device, what happened already exists somewhere they cannot reach.
This is not about confrontation. Nothing is hidden from anyone. A sticker on the car states plainly that recording happens — and that openness is the point. Everyone knows there is a record, which keeps things calm, without a camera being pushed in anyone's face.
One word. Five things at once.
You say your phrase — or tap once, or press the side button five times. You do not have to look at your phone. From that second:
It records
Your mounted camera starts capturing video and audio. The app shows you your state's recording-consent rule the first time, so you always know where you stand.
It pins you
Your exact location and the time are captured and stamped onto everything that follows.
It alerts someone
A text goes to the person you chose: where you are, what time, and that this is an automated SOVRAN alert. They need nothing installed — it is just a message.
It goes somewhere safe
The footage streams off your phone as it records, so it exists even if your phone is taken. Your contact gets a link to watch it live.
It proves itself
A fingerprint of the recording is anchored publicly the moment it is made, so no one can later claim it was edited.
And then you carry on
You have done nothing but speak. The phone stays mounted. The sticker already told everyone this was going to happen.
What happens if they take your phone
This is the question that matters most, so here is the honest answer.
Keeps working
- Everything already recorded is off your phone within seconds — taking the phone cannot delete it
- The alert and your location already reached your contact
- Audio can keep recording even with the screen locked
- The public fingerprint proving nothing was edited is already anchored
Has limits
- Video capture pauses if the screen is locked — phones restrict the camera in the background
- That is why setup keeps the phone mounted and awake, so it keeps filming on its own
- If the phone is locked or taken, video stops — but everything up to that second is already safe elsewhere
Three ways to start it, hands-free
Say it
A phrase you choose — “SOVRAN, I'm being stopped.” It runs through your phone's own assistant, so SOVRAN is never listening to your microphone. The assistant is; SOVRAN only responds when called.
Tap it
One large button on the SOVRAN screen. No setup, always works, for when you would rather not speak.
Click it
Five fast presses of the side button — the same gesture that launches emergency features on your phone. Works from your pocket, no looking, no speaking.
You can turn on all three. Use whichever fits the moment.
If you are arrested, how does the footage get out?
You are in a cell with nothing. Your phone is in an evidence bag. This is exactly the situation the Witness is built for, so here is precisely how the recording is reached — without you doing anything at all.
Your witnesses already have it
Every contact you chose received a link the moment it started. That link keeps working. They can watch it and download it from any phone or computer — no account, no login, no password. A lawyer needing that footage at two in the morning should never hit a signup wall.
Someone you trust with your passphrase
The finished recording is saved to your encrypted vault. Because we never hold your key, the only way in is your passphrase — so decide now, while nothing is wrong, who should have it.
A spouse. A parent. A sibling who lives elsewhere. Write it down and seal it somewhere they can reach, or hand it over in person. They sign in from any computer, days later, and download everything. Your phone is never needed, and neither are you.
The trade is real and worth saying plainly: whoever holds your passphrase can read everything in your vault. Choose one person you would trust with all of it, not three you would trust with most of it.
A recovery code, for the lawyer you have not hired yet
At setup you are given a recovery code — a long line of words, shown once, that you print or write down. It does one narrow thing: it releases your Witness recordings. It cannot read your notes, your checklist, or anything else in your vault.
That narrowness is the point. You can hand it to an attorney the way you would a power of attorney, or seal it in a safe with your other documents, without giving anyone the keys to your whole account. A lawyer hired after the arrest — who was never a witness and never got the text — walks in with that code and gets the footage.
Lose it and you generate a new one from your account at any time, which instantly retires the old one.
The proof travels with it
The public fingerprint does not hold the video — it proves the video existed at that exact time and has not been altered since. Whichever door the copy comes through, this is what lets a lawyer authenticate it.
Where your recovery code lives. With your attorney, in a safe, or with a second family member. It only opens the footage, so it is safe to place more widely than the passphrase.
Neither decision feels urgent until it is, and by then you cannot make it. That is the entire reason to do it today.
So pick your partner at home. Your mother across town. A friend in another city. The whole point of a witness is that they are somewhere else. You can add up to three, and we recommend at least two.
The rule underneath all of this: the footage must always be reachable by at least one person who is not at the scene. No single arrest, no single dead phone, and no single person in a cell can put it out of reach.
The text that goes out.
The moment it fires, the person you chose gets a message like this. It tells them what is happening, where, and — just as importantly — what not to do.
SOVRAN automated alert
[Your name] has started a Witness recording. This usually means a police stop or another encounter they wanted recorded.
Location: [live map link]
Time: [timestamp]
Watch live: [secure link]
Please do NOT drive to this location or intervene. Showing up can make a tense situation worse and put both of you at risk. Your job is simply to be aware, keep this message, and watch if you can. If you truly believe someone is in danger, call 911 — do not go yourself.
This recording and its location are already saved off [name]’s phone. Nothing you do or don’t do changes that.
That warning is deliberate and it is not optional. The Witness exists to create a record, not to summon help to a roadside. The safest thing your contact can do is stay exactly where they are and simply know.
You set it up once. It takes about ten minutes.
Here is exactly what setup will look like, so you know what you are signing up for. None of this happens during a stop — you do it once, at home, and then forget about it until you need it.
Mount your phone
A vent or dashboard mount, so the camera has a clear view out the windshield. This is the only thing you buy, and any mount works. The phone lives here whenever you drive.
Choose your phrase
Something you would never say by accident but could say naturally under stress — “SOVRAN, I’m being stopped.” You will install a small shortcut that listens for it through your phone’s own assistant, so SOVRAN is never listening to you — only the assistant is, and only for that phrase.
Pick who gets told
Up to three people who receive a text the moment it fires — your location, the time, and a link to watch live. They need nothing installed. Choose at least one who would not be with you — if your only witness is in your passenger seat, you can both end up detained and nobody outside has it. You can change these any time from your account.
Turn on your triggers
All three, if you like: the spoken phrase, a one-tap button, and five presses of the side button. More ways in means you are covered whether you can speak, look, or only reach into your pocket.
Apply the sticker
SOVRAN sends you the decals. Rear window and both front windows. They state plainly that the vehicle is recorded — and that notice is what keeps an interaction calm and keeps the recording on the right side of the law.
Read your state’s rule once
Recording-consent law differs by state, and SOVRAN shows you yours during setup — one screen, plain language — so you know exactly where you stand before you ever need it.
The honest part
This is not built yet. The Witness is a SOVRAN+ feature planned for after launch, and it needs its own legal review — recording-consent law differs by state — before it ships. It is described here in full because a sticker on a car should point somewhere that tells the whole truth, not a teaser.
It will be included in SOVRAN+ at no extra cost. It does not cost much to run, and charging separately for the thing that protects you in the worst moment would be the wrong call.
Already have an account? You can manage your witness contacts now — they will be ready the day this ships.