Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
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Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#2Good for Apple for helping to save lives. As someone who's had to wait for an ambulance while someone is dying I understand how horrible that wait is and how desperately you want them to get to you as quickly as possible. The second part of this however is to ensure it's not open to abuse (by criminals or the government) for non emergency calls.
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#3> The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends location data from an iPhone to a "clearinghouse" accessible to emergency calling centers. Only the 911 calling centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of it can be used for non-emergency purposes, according to Apple.
How long until this information is available to law enforcement?
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#4For anyone with the iOS12 beta, is there an opt-out for this system service in the Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services list?
What happens if "Location Services" has been disabled by MDM policy, or was never enabled since the device was setup?
On a new iOS11 device, if you decline to enable Location Services during setup, it stays disabled. Once enabled, it can no longer be disabled, and the system service "Share My Location" cannot be disabled, even if all other app and system services are blocked from accessing Location data.
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#5> The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends location data from an iPhone to a "clearinghouse" accessible to emergency calling centers. Only the 911 calling centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of it can be used for non-emergency purposes, according to Apple. How long until this information is available to law enforcement?
PUBLIC RELATIONS PERSON:
You don't understand, they aren't actively looking at the data so it's not spying. It's just being archived at our central servers for important future use, and any access is subject to warrants (for now). We are working with Google to bring this important life-saving terrorist-defeating child porn-detecting feature to Android. Think of the Children!
(I really hope it only sends out the information exactly while the phone is calling 911. Maybe in the future we'll have big debates about whether people should be able to "walk dark" without a mobile tracking device in the streets.)
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#6> The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends location data from an iPhone to a "clearinghouse" accessible to emergency calling centers. Only the 911 calling centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of it can be used for non-emergency purposes, according to Apple. How long until this information is available to law enforcement?
One would hope at launch.
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#7> The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends location data from an iPhone to a "clearinghouse" accessible to emergency calling centers. Only the 911 calling centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of it can be used for non-emergency purposes, according to Apple. How long until this information is available to law enforcement?
PUBLIC RELATIONS PERSON: You don't understand, they aren't actively looking at the data so it's not spying. It's just being archived at our central servers for important future use, and any access is subject to warrants (for now). We are working with Google to bring this important life-saving terrorist-defeating child porn-detecting feature to Android. Think of the Children! (I really hope it only sends out the infor…
Why shouldn’t it be archived for future use?
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#8> The approach developed by Apple and RapidSOS sends location data from an iPhone to a "clearinghouse" accessible to emergency calling centers. Only the 911 calling centers will be able to see the data during the call, and none of it can be used for non-emergency purposes, according to Apple. How long until this information is available to law enforcement?
It already has been for a while, and one of the major suppliers was found recently to have been extremely poorly secured: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/05/tracking-firm-locationsm...
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#9For anyone with the iOS12 beta, is there an opt-out for this system service in the Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services list? What happens if "Location Services" has been disabled by MDM policy, or was never enabled since the device was setup? On a new iOS11 device, if you decline to enable Location Services during setup, it stays disabled. Once enabled, it can no longer be disabled, and the system service…
In what circumstances would you want to contact 911 but not reveal your location?
Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
PUBLIC RELATIONS PERSON: You don't understand, they aren't actively looking at the data so it's not spying. It's just being archived at our central servers for important future use, and any access is subject to warrants (for now). We are working with Google to bring this important life-saving terrorist-defeating child porn-detecting feature to Android. Think of the Children! (I really hope it only sends out the infor…
Why shouldn’t it be archived for future use?
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