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

[slimtastic]

They’ll probably make it so when law enforcement calls it triggers the feature. Then they just need to call the number to get a fix. You know how these things work. We’ve all seen the films. We’ve all seen the news.

Yup, I could see that happening as well. What happens when you want to make an anonymous tip to the cops? You call 911. They have your IP address and your location. It's no longer an "anonymous tip" and now they know you were there at the time, and poof now you're going to have cops on you. It's a bad situation and will deter people from making tips. It needs to be an option for the consumer.

 

[groadyho]

A bit off topic but I just read Apple is dropping the SE . No more 5in phone from Apple.

 

[Cndnmax]

My iphone isn’t connected to all those things.
)

so you pay cash every month for your prepaid cell service? Sounds like a pain in the butt.

 

[groadyho]

Yup, I could see that happening as well. What happens when you want to make an anonymous tip to the cops? You call 911. They have your IP address and your location. It's no longer an "anonymous tip" and now they know you were there at the time, and poof now you're going to have cops on you. It's a bad situation and will deter people from making tips. It needs to be an option for the consumer.

Scary the cops have your info if it a gang murder or something. You'll be on a hit list in no time

 

[Cndnmax]

Yup, I could see that happening as well. What happens when you want to make an anonymous tip to the cops? You call 911. They have your IP address and your location. It's no longer an "anonymous tip" and now they know you were there at the time, and poof now you're going to have cops on you. It's a bad situation and will deter people from making tips. It needs to be an option for the consumer.

It was never anonymous to begin with. When u call the anonymous tip lines they just don’t look at ur info. It’s still there.
Also, I’m sure you are aware that cell towers record and save every single device that connects to it and PD can just do a data dump and see every single device that was there at what time anyways.
This feature basically sends a gps coordinate when u dial 911, That’s it. It doesn’t send 30 sec recordings of before and after your call.

 

[slimtastic]

It was never anonymous to begin with. When u call the anonymous tip lines they just don’t look at ur info. It’s still there.
Also, I’m sure you are aware that cell towers record and save every single device that connects to it and PD can just do a data dump and see every single device that was there at what time anyways.
This feature basically sends a gps coordinate when u dial 911, That’s it. It doesn’t send 30 sec recordings of before and after your call.

Oh I know. That's why it's best to call 911 from a burner or a phone that has never been activated before, and then trashing it once you're done. With that said, our current 911 systems are quite antiquated and not very robust. When traveling around, security conscious folks would do so with their phones powered off and in a Faraday cages as well.

 

[ayyak]

Great!

 

[sdf]

Apple best fix the broken wifi on/off switching in control centre then.

Read the label. it's working they way it's supposed to, and the way most of us probably want: it disconnects from a broken network for a day.

 

[djlythium]

No, VPN affects the connections you make, but this system is only based on your proximity to WiFi access points and cell towers, aside from making any connection. (GPS isn't affected by VPN either, but that's more obvious.)

You're probably thinking of websites that try to guess your location based on how packets are routed to their servers. Those are affected by a VPN.

Ah. Thanks for the info. Are there 'cell VPNs'?

 

[zarmanto]

This hasn't been true for Verizon for some time now...unless you've intentionally turned it off or stuck on an old 3G phone. Voice is carried over LTE and data works concurrently. Even Verizon's dumbphones are LTE now.

How sure of that are you? Have you tested it? I mean, I'm not necessarily saying that you're wrong, but for that to be true, VoLTE would have to be turned on by default and operating in the way it was designed... and in my (admittedly limited) experience, that's not necessarily always a guarantee: when I tested it out awhile back on my Sprint iPhone X (which is most assuredly an LTE phone) things didn't function quite as expected, regardless of whether or not VoLTE was enabled.

That said, I'll admit that test was awhile ago... possibly over a year, now. Maybe I'll turn VoLTE back on again this evening, and see if things have changed.

 

[JungleNYC]

Bravo. Whenever our tech can improve our safety = win.

 

[Dave00]

This makes an incredible amount of sense. If you don't have to relay your location, that's one more minute sooner that the dispatcher can instruct you in what to do, and one minute sooner the ambulance is called. Or maybe longer than a minute, if you're not sure where you are or are flustered in trying to think of the nearest intersection. The dispatcher may even be able to tell where the nearest public AED is located. These precious minutes save lives.

 

[44267547]

As Someone who works in LE, this is a great tool to have. Many times in the past when we receive 911 calls, it’s not always pinpointed with accuracy, Which can be problematic for first responders. With this, this can save valuable time and increase responsiveness when knowing where exactly where to respond. Every second counts in the event of an emergency.

 

[ProTruckDriver]

Great feature and well done Apple. Thumbs up!

 

[DoctorTech]

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


"Public Safety Access Point."

My bad. That is what I meant to type but I had brain fade.
[doublepost=1529352524][/doublepost]Just a quick word of thanks to all the PSAP operators out there (it seems like there are several commenting on this thread). You guys do a great and difficult job that is taken for granted by nearly everyone. I have never had your job but I have consulted on Law Enforcement projects and had a lot of interactions with PSAP operators. I could not do the job you do.

 

[44267547]

along with deterring prank calls.

This is *Not* going to deter prank calls. Those who want to dial 911 inappropriately are still going to do so no matter what, even if they’re not even aware of this new feature from Apple. For the record in my area (And from my experience), the majority of 911 hangup calls/prank calls are generally made from deactivated cell phones, which is a complete dead end for first responders, as only gives a generalized coordination based off the cell phone tower and not an exact location like this new feature will provide.

Also, some prank calls that can be located, its not uncommon for the user to power the phone off right after, which now we don’t know their geographic location if they moved on from the location they were at the time of the call.

 

[SBlue1]

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

What? LOL! Why do you call 911 if you don't want to tell where the emergency happened??? LOL!

 

[fireguy286]

How sure of that are you? Have you tested it? I mean, I'm not necessarily saying that you're wrong, but for that to be true, VoLTE would have to be turned on by default and operating in the way it was designed... and in my (admittedly limited) experience, that's not necessarily always a guarantee: when I tested it out awhile back on my Sprint iPhone X (which is most assuredly an LTE phone) things didn't function quite as expected, regardless of whether or not VoLTE was enabled.

That said, I'll admit that test was awhile ago... possibly over a year, now. Maybe I'll turn VoLTE back on again this evening, and see if things have changed.

I can't speak to Sprint. Apparently they are very behind in that arena, VoLTE isn't coming to Sprint until the fall of this year supposedly? I know they have had technical issues with FDD vs TDD LTE and that may have played a role. On Verizon's end it was rolled out back in 2014 and I know I've used it since my 6+ without issue. ATT/TMo have also had it for some time.

 

[Apple_Robert]

This is *Not* going to deter prank calls Robert. Those who want to dial 911 inappropriately are still going to do so no matter what, even if they’re not even aware of this new feature from Apple. For the record in my area (And from my experience), the majority of 911 hangup calls/prank calls are generally made from deactivated cell phones, which is a complete dead end for first responders, as only gives a generalized coordination based off the cell phone tower and not an exact location like this new feature will provide.

Also, some prank calls that can be located, its not uncommon for the user to power the phone off right after, which now we don’t know their geographic location if they moved on from the location they were at the time of the call.

Point taken. Wishful thinking on my part.

 

[lec0rsaire]

This feature will save a lot of lives. Great especially for the elderly.

 

[ProTruckDriver]

Reading this thread, why are people against knowing your location when you call 911? I find it hard to understand.

 

[00sjsl]

What is new about this? The US had regulations about locating mobiles making emergency calls back in 2003 I was working on this when working in telecoms ten years ago. It started off with triangulation using cell towers then when that was not accurate enough switched to AGPS. That was before the iPhone was a thing.

 

[cmwade77]

I don't understand why this isn't required for every cell phone out there and why it hasn't been required since they had location information available on cell phones. Really, this is something basic that can do a lot of good.
[doublepost=1529355258][/doublepost]

Yup, I could see that happening as well. What happens when you want to make an anonymous tip to the cops? You call 911. They have your IP address and your location. It's no longer an "anonymous tip" and now they know you were there at the time, and poof now you're going to have cops on you. It's a bad situation and will deter people from making tips. It needs to be an option for the consumer.

Actually, anonymous tips should be made to your local police number to avoid tying up the 911 system. Also, why would the cops be on you if you report something? Seriously do people have that little respect for the police?
[doublepost=1529355627][/doublepost]

This makes an incredible amount of sense. If you don't have to relay your location, that's one more minute sooner that the dispatcher can instruct you in what to do, and one minute sooner the ambulance is called. Or maybe longer than a minute, if you're not sure where you are or are flustered in trying to think of the nearest intersection. The dispatcher may even be able to tell where the nearest public AED is located. These precious minutes save lives.

Exactly, imagine this scenario, you are driving down an unfamiliar highway in the middle of nowhere and a deer runs in front of your car. You end up hitting the deer, but his antlers come through the windshield and severely injure your spouse.

You dial 911 because your spouse is hurt badly, they ask where you are and how are you supposed to know? You don't know this stretch of road, your lucky there is even cell coverage out where you are. So you spend several minutes trying to describe where you are, minutes which may mean the difference between life or death for your spouse. With this feature (that should have been there from day one), the dispatcher gets your exact GPS coordinates the moment they pickup the phone and can dispatch an Ambulance right away, which means your spouse is more likely to survive. Now, isn't that worth every bit of having this feature?

 

[August West]

Advanced Mobile Location must be supported by carriers.

I wonder if the big 3/4 US carriers currently support this? If not, my bet is they will fight tooth and nail to avoid/delay implementing the service since it will not earn them any additional profit. I could see them petitioning their good buddy Ajit Pai to allow a monthly surcharge to pay for the service. Say a mandatory $1.99/month on each line. There is no doubt in my mind he would enthusiastically endorse this.

 

[paulold]

Good idea, but "precise"? I wouldn't call the GPS on my iPhone X precise.