A new app called Protector has debuted in Los Angeles and New York City, allowing ordinary people to order a Secret Service-like security detail, complete with armed guards. The app's launch was strategically timed with a series of TikTok videos showcasing the service, but it has been revealed that the creators were hired to promote the app, rather than organically endorsing it.

The videos, which have garnered millions of views, feature young women being escorted by intimidating men in suits, carrying iced matcha lattes and whisking them away to the airport. The creators, Fuzz and Fuzz, and Camille Hovsepian, disclosed that they were paid to create the content, which was designed to generate buzz around the app's launch.

Protector's concept is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur and growth hacker Nikita Bier, who has a history of using provocative tactics to drive app adoption. Bier's strategy, outlined in a recent post on X, involves launching controversial app concepts to "piss off millions of people on the internet each day." His approach has proven successful in the past, with an AI-powered health app, Death Clock, shooting to No. 6 on the iOS app store health charts after a name change and the addition of a survey that predicts users' deaths.

However, Protector's concept is more tenuous than adding a gimmicky AI feature to a health app. The app's guards are active duty or recently retired law enforcement, who each has government-issued permits to carry firearms and work as guards. Hiring a security detail on Protector will cost users at least $1,000 for a minimum of five hours, plus a $129 annual membership fee.

According to estimates from Appfigures, Protector has been downloaded by U.S.-based iOS users about 97,000 times in the first week after its February 17 launch. While the app has generated initial curiosity, its installs have slowed down, and it remains unclear how many users will actually pay to use the service.

Protector's target customer is unclear, as it's difficult to imagine what kind of person would be willing to pay over $1,000 for such an ostentatious, unnecessary service. The company has made appeals to a highly specific audience: business executives who are concerned about their safety after the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Protector has also made claims that its guards could have prevented the murder of Thompson, running through three possible scenarios where they claim they could have deterred the assailant. However, this tactic has drawn criticism, and it's unclear how the app will be able to sustain itself in the long term.

Protector has backing from angel investors, including Balaji Srinivasan, who is known for his interests in "startup societies" and "network states." The app's concept raises questions about the intersection of public safety and startup growth, and whether the incentives of these two goals can be reconciled.

Protector is not the first company to pursue this concept. BlackWolf, an app that also offers armed rideshare drivers, operates in several states and has been downloaded about 256,000 times since its launch in 2023. Like Protector, BlackWolf has leaned on extravagant social media marketing and fear-mongering, capitalizing on news of driverless Waymo cars being vandalized.

The rise of these apps raises concerns about the role of private security in public spaces and the potential consequences of crowdfunded security initiatives. Protector plans to launch an app called "Patrol," where users can crowdfund security guards to surveil their neighborhoods, further blurring the lines between public and private security.

In a time when Americans' trust in law enforcement has wavered, Protector's concept is controversial, to say the least. As the app prepares its next announcement, it remains to be seen how it will address these concerns and whether its business model is sustainable in the long term.