A side release buckle device with a male and female member. The female member has a housing, a catch assembly, and at least one contact point. The male member can interlock with the female member and has an arm assembly, a catch assembly, and at least one contact point. At least one switch is formed by contact between contact point of the male member and contact point of the female member. An electrical circuit traverses the female and male member, so when the members are “locked” together, the switch is closed. The electrical circuit has a series of wires, a source of electrical energy, a currently limiting resistor, at least one switch, and an electrical element (at least one microcontroller or integrated circuit, a Bluetooth® RF transceiver, Wi-Fi® enablement). The device may have a computer chip activated upon closure of the switch, triggering activation of an external camera, or a GPS-tracking system. The device pairs with other communication devices.