iPhones on iOS 12 Will Automatically Share Precise Location Data During 911 Calls in United States

[DoctorTech]

Depending on where you live (state and county) there is a good chance that 911 calls are not answered by law enforcement. The 911 call centers or Public Service Access Points (PSAPs) handle all emergency calls (Police, Fire, Ambulance) so the person taking the call isn't necessarily a law enforcement officer. They work in an environment that can go from absolute boredom (night shift on a very slow night) to incredible stress with multiple lives hanging in the balance in a matter of seconds.

This is a great feature that will make their jobs a little easier, more accurate, and faster (and as many others have pointed out, will reduce pranks calls). Good job Apple.

 

[rpmurray]

Does anyone know what metric they use to determine the X number of lives saved?

For example, if the first responders get to the location and the person is still alive does that count as a "saved life" even if they die on the way to the hospital, or die from their injuries within X number of hours or days?

We keep seeing countries compared by these kinds of numbers but I've never seen the media explain if all are using the same metric. I read something once about a certain Asian country known for it's safety that doesn't count someone as dying in an auto accident if they don't die within 24 hours of the accident.

 

[341328]

Great stuff

 

[recoil80]

So I guess when people want to report a crime and remain anonymous they won’t be able too. So they’ll report less crimes and then the governments can publish nice reports showing how crimes have gone down.

But even without GPS they have your phone number and by checking the cell you were connected to they could already have an estimation of your position. And I don't know how it works on the US, but carriers need a copy of my ID and social security number when they give me a sim card in my country, so they know who I am just looking at the phone number
If your goal is to be anonymous you don't call 911 with your own phone

 

[zarmanto]

I'm glad to hear that such a feature is in the works... and hopefully I just missed some one-liner somewhere in the article, but there is one detail that I'd kind'a like to know: How do they plan on implementing this for the legacy CDMA/LTE carriers? Verizon and Sprint both still default to CDMA for basic phone communication, and when a phone switches over to CDMA mode, cellular data just flat shuts off entirely. So how does Apple plan to get that critical location data to the emergency services reps, when data comms are down during the phone call?

 

[alwaysbeincontact]

This is great to see for health and safety!

 

[DotCom2]

This is GREAT but I wish it were on the Apple Watch as well at launch.

 

[jona2125]

Does anyone know what metric they use to determine the X number of lives saved?

For example, if the first responders get to the location and the person is still alive does that count as a "saved life" even if they die on the way to the hospital, or die from their injuries within X number of hours or days?

We keep seeing countries compared by these kinds of numbers but I've never seen the media explain if all are using the same metric. I read something once about a certain Asian country known for it's safety that doesn't count someone as dying in an auto accident if they don't die within 24 hours of the accident.

From the first responder side, our statistics on a save were always based on survival to discharge, which means they stayed alive and were able to be discharged by the hospital. It possibly varies so I can't speak for all agency's though and it's definitely a personal save to get ROSC (return of a pulse) on scene.

 

[cosmichobo]

So I guess when people want to report a crime and remain anonymous they won’t be able too.

This was my thought... Yes, some people call 911 as a prank, and this tech could potentially be used to trace them and fine them. It's also invaluable to help people in an emergency. But it will put people off calling 911 if they wish for anonymity. I guess there's still Crime Watch/type lines for people to call without this tech outing them... And frankly - if as suggested this could save 10,000 people per year...

 

[chabig]

So I guess when people want to report a crime and remain anonymous they won’t be able too. So they’ll report less crimes and then the governments can publish nice reports showing how crimes have gone down.

Huh?

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

It is a great life-saving feature.

But ...
After reading some of the negative posts (police surveillance,...) it occurred to me the MacRumors staff should run a free offer of tin hats to the first 100 readers that sign for the offer. [The value-add to MacRumors is that the aforementioned tin hats will display the MacRumors' "News and Rumors you Care to Protect Yourself About" meme.]

This way these posters can be well protected while writing their negative posts. /s

 

[jasonsmith_88]

And the user will be able to turn this off, if desired. Is this correct, dear apple ?

You've been on the forum since 2011 yet still don't understand Apple became popular because they don't give the user options.

I'd love to know your use case for wanting to turn it off anyway. What reason would you not want emergency services to have your location in an emergency?

"911 please state your emergency."
"I've been in a car accident and my entire body is crushed."
"Where are you?"
"I have no idea."
"No problem. We'll just check the data... Oh. It looks like you've turned that feature off. Hello? Are you still there? Hello?"

 

[bb9]

On your mac in settingns/WiFi you can see a list of all the networks and delete them from there.

Interesting. What is the effect of doing that? The iphone will still see what’s available (brought casting) no?

 

[truthertech]

What’s stopping law enforcement ringing a phone so it sends location?

You know those investigation departments.

not that it bothers me (I don’t answer withheld numbers or ones I don’t know) but it’s something that sprang to mind.

When you call someone's phone number, it doesn't send their location back to you is the reason.
[doublepost=1529329294][/doublepost]

Depending on where you live (state and county) there is a good chance that 911 calls are not answered by law enforcement. The 911 call centers or Public Service Access Points (PSAPs) handle all emergency calls (Police, Fire, Ambulance) so the person taking the call isn't necessarily a law enforcement officer. They work in an environment that can go from absolute boredom (night shift on a very slow night) to incredible stress with multiple lives hanging in the balance in a matter of seconds.

This is a great feature that will make their jobs a little easier, more accurate, and faster (and as many others have pointed out, will reduce pranks calls). Good job Apple.

"Public Safety Access Point."

 

[jona2125]

You've been on the forum since 2011 yet still don't understand Apple became popular because they don't give the user options.

I'd love to know your use case for wanting to turn it off. What reason would you not want emergency services to have your location in an emergency?

"911 please state your emergency."
"I've been in a car accident and my entire body is crushed."
"Where are you?"
"I have no idea."
"No problem. We'll just check the data... Oh. It looks like you've turned that feature off. Hello? Are you still there? Hello?"

While personally I probably will never turn it off, I don't think it's unreasonable for someone to want deny the feature for whatever reason.

Also from an actual experience, I've responded on a call where the patients phone provided us their GPS location when they couldn't but it was incorrect and caused a delay.

 

[Davidglenn]

Hopefully this will be expanded to other countries.
I can see many positive uses. After a car crash and the phone is out of reach or moved. Hey Siri call emergency number. Phone call goes out and emergency services know where to go.

 

[truthertech]

But even without GPS they have your phone number and by checking the cell you were connected to they could already have an estimation of your position. And I don't know how it works on the US, but carriers need a copy of my ID and social security number when they give me a sim card in my country, so they know who I am just looking at the phone number
If your goal is to be anonymous you don't call 911 with your own phone

No, you can still block your phone number or use any number of ways to call 911 if you want to remain anonymous.

 

[S.B.G]

What’s stopping law enforcement ringing a phone so it sends location?

You know those investigation departments.

not that it bothers me (I don’t answer withheld numbers or ones I don’t know) but it’s something that sprang to mind.

At the 911 centers we don't have that kind of technology. We only receive caller location information when the caller dials 911.

So I guess when people want to report a crime and remain anonymous they won’t be able too. So they’ll report less crimes and then the governments can publish nice reports showing how crimes have gone down.

If someone wants to remain anonymous they don't have to dial 911 to report a crime per se. Each dispatch center also has non-emergency lines that can be called which do not get anything more than caller ID - if they pay the phone company to get Caller ID.
[doublepost=1529329547][/doublepost]

No, you can still block your phone number or use any number of ways to call 911 if you want to remain anonymous.

Caller ID blocking does not work with 911.

 

[slimtastic]

Hoping there will be the ability to turn this feature off.

 

[MacSince1985]

Interesting. What is the effect of doing that? The iphone will still see what’s available (brought casting) no?

It will remove those networks from the ones you automatically connect to. If you once connected to a friend's network who kept it named "Netgear", your phone will try to connect every time it encounters a wifi network called "Netgear" because it's a "known network".
You can have more control by selecting each network individually and either click "forget this network" or disabling "auto-join this network".

 

[DVD Plaza]

Apple notes that approximately 80 percent of 911 calls today come from mobile devices

And a percentage of those coming from Apple's California repair center LOL

 

[joeblow7777]

So I guess when people want to report a crime and remain anonymous they won’t be able too. So they’ll report less crimes and then the governments can publish nice reports showing how crimes have gone down.

What genius ever called 911/999 from their own phone expecting anonymity? That’s why they have services like (in my area) Crime Stoppers, specifically for reporting crimes or giving tips anonymously.

 

[mazz0]

Wonder why there isn't an international standard.

 

[stainless]

And the user will be able to turn this off, if desired. Is this correct, dear apple ?

You can turn off "Location Services" for iOS but it will be interesting to see if the phone app "pings" GPS every now and then.

 

[TTTedP]

...as the cellular towers you're connected to basically attempt to triangulate your location and broadcast it to the 911 operator.

"Triangulation" was never really the right term but as a method, it has declined over the years (unless you're talking 2G and early 3G). With 3G and LTE, it's been mostly a handset based solution (aGPS) and the newer hybrid methods (aGPS + WiFi, Bluetooth, sensors, etc).