Landing Page of our Application
Form to submit a Post - where Gemini can help in formulation of the Post
Common Dashboard for every user - all feeds are visible here

ExposeIt: Speak Up. Stay Safe. Stay Anonymous.

Inspiration

As international students living far from home, we've often found ourselves witnessing or even experiencing situations that felt unfair, unsafe, or simply wrong. But more often than not, we felt powerless—held back by fear of authority, unfamiliar reporting procedures, or simply not knowing where to turn.

While social platforms exist, posts about serious issues often get buried in noise, and anonymity isn't guaranteed. We realized there’s a need for a focused, secure space where people can raise their voices without fear.

That’s what inspired ExposeIt—a platform built to empower anyone to report injustice, stay anonymous, and still be heard. Our goal was to use technology not just to build a tool, but to create a sense of safety and agency, especially for those who often go unheard.

What It Does

ExposeIt is a secure citizen journalism and anonymous crime reporting platform designed to empower people to speak up without fear. It leverages AI and decentralized tech to transform raw reports into impactful, verifiable posts—while maintaining user privacy and safety.

Key Features:

AI-Powered Report Generation supporting multiple languages
Transforms raw crime descriptions into concise, social-media-style posts using the Gemini API, making reports easier to read and share.
Decentralized Privacy & Proof
Encrypts original reports through Midnight blockchain with zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring tamper-proof, anonymous documentation.
Emergency Voice Reporting supporting multiple languages
Allows users to record voice notes in urgent situations in any language when typing isn’t feasible, maintaining accessibility.
Reputation & Credibility Tracking
Implements a community-driven trust score system based on upvotes/downvotes, helping surface credible reporters.
User Engagement
Enables others to comment, share, and engage with posts, fostering transparent community discussions.
Evidence Sharing
Supports image, audio, and video uploads so users can include crucial evidence with their reports.
Anonymous Reporting to Authorities
Offers an option to forward reports to law enforcement via anonymous email—closing the loop between whistleblowers and action.

ExposeIt turns fear into action and silence into impact—with privacy, integrity, and tech for good.

How We Built It

We brought ExposeIt to life by combining modern web technologies, AI, and decentralized storage, focused on creating a seamless, secure experience.

Frontend

Built with React
Styled using Tailwind CSS
Enhanced with Framer Motion for smooth animations and transitions

Authentication

Integrated Auth0 for secure and flexible user login/logout while preserving anonymity when needed

Backend

Built with Node.js/Express
Handles report processing, AI integration, moderation, and database/blockchain interactions

AI/NLP

Utilizes the Gemini API to turn raw incident descriptions into structured summaries suitable for sharing

Storage

MongoDB Atlas: Manages user profiles, posts, votes, comments
Midnight Blockchain: Stores encrypted original reports with zero-knowledge proofs for immutability and verifiability

Challenges We Ran Into

Tech Stack Decisions
Choosing the right tools and making them work harmoniously required deep research and testing.
Midnight Blockchain Integration
Encrypting reports and applying zero-knowledge proofs involved a steep learning curve.
Integration with Gemini
Using it for accurate transcription and summarization demanded multiple iterations.
OpenMind API Usage
Faced integration challenges and inconsistent sentiment analysis accuracy.
Balancing Privacy & Interaction
Designing anonymity while supporting voting, commenting, and reputation was a tough balance.

Accomplishments We're Proud Of

✅ Built a fully functional MVP with end-to-end anonymous reporting
✅ Successfully combined LLMs, blockchain, and encryption into one working system
✅ Balanced user privacy with public transparency
✅ Made crime reporting feel safe, focused, and empowering
✅ Enforced content relevance by filtering out unrelated posts
✅ Implemented spam detection and flagging to maintain report integrity
✅ Added multilingual & accessibility support to reach a wider audience

What We Learned

Developed a deep understanding of zero-knowledge proofs and their real-world privacy applications
Explored the strengths/limitations of LLMs with sensitive content
Honed skills in team collaboration, adaptability, and rapid development under hackathon pressure
Learned how to experiment with new tools like OpenMind, diving into docs and hands-on testing
Discovered the full potential of Gemini API—especially for summarization, transcription, and prompt optimization

What’s Next for ExposeIt: Power to the People, Privacy to the Reporter

🤝 Partner with NGOs & Law Enforcement to act on verified, anonymized reports
🌟 Enhance moderation using community-driven trust scoring
🤖 Explore emergency-response robots for real-time distress signal response
📍 Implement area-wise geolocation crime analytics for heatmaps and trend tracking
🧠 Refine the AI pipeline for better summaries, voice inputs, and live updates