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Kitestring sends emergency contacts a text message if a user does not reply to a check in message on their phone (pictured)

In an age where more people live on their own and it's normal to meet total strangers in a bar for a date, it can be reassuring to be checked up on.

Instead of relying on friends or protective parents to check up on your whereabouts, a new service can send you with a text message to check you are safe instead.

Kitestring sends a user's emergency contacts a text message if they do not reply to a 'check in' message on their phone.

The free service uses text messages so it can be used by people without a smartphone and in areas without an internet connection.

It was invented by Stephan Boyer, in San Francisco to keep his girlfriend safe.

The 23-year old MIT computer science graduate told Elle.com: 'My girlfriend, who lives in a dangerous neighbourhood in San Francisco, called to ask me to check up on her as she was walking home from work one day.

'I wondered if there might be an app or service that could offer a little extra safety for her when she goes out at night.'

Anyone wanting to use the service can set up an account on Kitestring's website, where they enter their phone number plus an emergency contact, as well as writing an alert message which will be sent to their chosen contact when needed.

To use the service, people schedule a time and date for when they plan to be out and estimate how long they will be.

The free 'safecall' service uses text messages so it can be used by people without a smartphone and in areas without an internet connection. To begin using the service, people have to create an account online and add contacts (pictured) which will be alerted by text in an emergency

To use the service, people schedule a time and date for when they plan to be out and estimate how long they will be. This can be done online (pictured) and via text message

They can text Kitestring a duration like '45m' to start a trip, for example, or click on options on the company's website.

When that time has passed, Kitestring sends a text message asking for confirmation that the person is safe.

Users can extend a trip by testing 'ETA 15m' for example, to receive another text 15 minutes later, or can start another new trip if they expect to later than an hour after they originally said.

Their emergency contact or contacts are alerted with a distress message if the service doesn't hear back from a user within five minutes of checking up on them with a text message.

This time frame can be altered by premium users who pay £2 a month for multiple emergency contacts and other extras. But if someone's phone battery runs flat, contacts will still be notified, which could cause unnecessary panic.

This is because the 'notifications system runs on our servers and does not depend on your phone being available,' the company says.

Because the service works using text messages, it makes itself useable by more people than previous 'safecall' apps for smartphones, which often rely on an internet connection and GPS.

Kitestring works in 217 countries, which could also make it handy for backpackers and other holidaymakers exploring a new area on their own.

When that time has passed, Kitestring sends a text message asking for confirmation that the person is safe. This is one suggested by the service

The service could be sued by backpackers in far flung places, or simply by people walking home in the dark (illustrated), meeting someone for the first time or when travelling through dubious neighborhoods where they feel unsafe. Unlike other services, Kitestring only needs basic mobile reception to send and receive a text