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

[Tech198]

May be a privacy risk, but during an emergency call, that would be exempted anyway..

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

Perhaps not on 'life-threatening' calls then, but to get from point A to point B for "general" mapping, it works well.

 

[groadyho]

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

Funny about 2wks ago I just read how Google home saved a few elderly lives. Tech is saving lives everywhere

 

[cosmichobo]

They’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. A phone box.

No idea if US is like AU, but phone boxes are almost a thing of the past here...

https://i.gifer.com/HHY2.gif

 

[manu chao]

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.

And they were anonymous before this? Yes they could suppress their number but I would have thought that law enforcement could get past this.

 

[enoughisenough]

Really like the idea...

 

[slimtastic]

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.
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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]
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?

Your reply is disgusting. This has nothing to do with respect. Stay in your lane. If someone sees a crime being committed, they will call 911 rather than dig for the local police dept.

This feature should be optional.

 

[kreasonos]

This is a great idea! Why this wasn't in place sooner is a wonder.

 

[kdarling]

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.

You mean if it's out of LTE coverage?

Verizon CDMA phones have been able to send an A-GPS position during a 911 call since the turn of the century. This is done over a control channel in parallel with voice or data.

However, city canyons and buildings can cause GPS errors or blockage, making the carrier fall back on cell tower triangulation.

The advantage of the Motorola/RapidSOS system is that it apparently also uses other aids such as WiFi hitspots in order to improve location precision and accuracy.

 

[NightFox]

You have to think outside the box here. Nothing in the tech world is as straightforward as you seem to wish it were.

Not everything in the tech world is as sinister and machiavellian as you seem to think it is.

Where's the harm in giving users the option?

"As many as 10,000 lives could be saved each year if 911 emergency dispatchers were able to get to callers just one minute faster, according to the FCC."

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.

You really shouldn't make assumptions of the real world based on what you see in films

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.

Wow. Just wow.

When traveling around, security conscious folks would do so with their phones powered off and in a Faraday cages as well.

Actually, if you're travelling in one of the few places in the world where the local security services do aggressively monitor the movement and activity of foreign visitors, trying to avoid their surveillance and making it look like you've got something to hide is a pretty dumb thing to do.

 

[Sunshoopa]

I like choice, but for something as important of saving lives? No. There’s no need to be a choice. If you’re going to call 911 YOU NEED HELP RIGHT THERE AND THEN no questions asked. If you don’t need to let them know where you are, then you shouldn’t be calling 911 in the first place.

If there was choice in the scenario, some people would be turning it off, and then when you do need 911 to know where you are instantly, you won’t have it.

Glad they’re adding it. I honestly thought it already had this.

 

[sirozha]

Does this feature report the floor you are on? If it doesn’t, it’s pretty useless for places like NYC, Chicago, or any high-rise. Try to locate a 911 caller in a 70-something-story (storey) high rise without knowing the floor or at least the approximate elevation.

 

[Inkling]

Good. Hopefully it will deter or punish prank callers from dialling 911

Do prank callers use cell phones? They'd be stupid to do so, assuming the phone isn't stolen, since the 911 center will have their number in any case.

On the other hand, having the location might help spot prank calls as they come in. Someone who is reporting a fire down the street but whose location shows them miles away is probably lying.

 

[I7guy]

Does this feature report the floor you are on? If it doesn’t, it’s pretty useless for places like NYC, Chicago, or any high-rise. Try to locate a 911 caller in a 70-something-story (storey) high rise without knowing the floor or at least the approximate elevation.

So what you are saying is basically the new system is much better in certain scenarios and the same in others. Seems like a step forward to me.

 

[skinned66]

How long till people complain of this great feature? I mean Americans seem to be a bit paranoid about sharing their locations?

Great feature, well done Apple.

But my privacy! You'll never find me or my myocardial infarction you dirty rats.

 

[826317]

Do prank callers use cell phones? They'd be stupid to do so, assuming the phone isn't stolen, since the 911 center will have their number in any case.

On the other hand, having the location might help spot prank calls as they come in. Someone who is reporting a fire down the street but whose location shows them miles away is probably lying.

There's this little thing called prepaid phones. I know you Americans love your bill pay and stuff but prepay is still a thing!

 

[antonis]

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?"

Oh I know how apple works, trust me. I'm also aware of all their latest shady tactics as well.

The issue here is not about calling 911, I'm surprised that people don't understand this in 2018. The point is to be able to control what your device is doing in every case of usage. However, people here are resigned from their rights by the time they see an apple logo.

And no, apple did not become popular by not giving user options, but by making them easily accessible. The vast removal of options is a late trend by the "courageous" and "innovative my a$$" people in cupertino.

 

[WhiteHawk]

Great idea but won’t be much use and could potentially be bad and send them to the wrong location considering how bad the GPS location can be. Last month in my area it’s been terrible with Find my Friends app showing people many miles from they’ve actual location or just not showing precise location with the circle being miles in size.

 

[Tech198]

Good. Hopefully it will deter or punish prank callers from dialling 911

How would they know if its a prank till they go out there anyway ?

eg... be in one location and dial 911 as a prank, then wander off.. I remember doing that to RAC in the past. Think the guy was seriously ****

 

[I7guy]

Oh I know how apple works, trust me. I'm also aware of all their latest shady tactics as well.

The issue here is not about calling 911, I'm surprised that people don't understand this in 2018. The point is to be able to control what your device is doing in every case of usage. However, people here are resigned from their rights by the time they see an apple logo.

And no, apple did not become popular by not giving user options, but by making them easily accessible. The vast removal of options is a late trend by the "courageous" and "innovative my a$$" people in cupertino.

If this functionality bothers you, you don’t have to call 911. Seems like a worthwhile thing to do and not have the option not to turn off.

 

[Bart H]

Uh, what does the user need to do to implement?