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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

#61

Post by MekaiGS »

Waterluvian wrote: post #44
rwmj wrote: post #18

I had to make a 999 call a few years back because I saw a woman faint and bang her head on a concrete pavement. Although I was in the local area which I know very well, it was really difficult - when put on the spot in an emergency - to describe my exact location.

Yeah. I regularly test myself when bored while driving to verbalize where I am. "Highway 401 East.. uhh I think I passed an exit for Guelph a while ago? I don't see a marker at the moment." Off topic: if you're often bored while driving, learn the NATO phonetic alphabet using license plates around you. It helps me four or five times a year when reading off things to people in customer service. The beauty of it is tha…

Hi to fellow KW/Guelph YC news reader :)

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#63

Post by VonGuard »

Oakland needs this help so badly. Call 911 on a cell in Oakland, and you're going to wait on hold for 30 minutes, most of which will be you being transfered to the wrong departments over and over. You start at a call center somewhere in middle America with a person who does not know where Oakland is. They pass you to CA CHP, who don't know Oakland either, because their dispatcher on the line is out of Sacramento. Finally, you get dumped to the local 911, which is overwhelmed, has long hold times, and sometimes even hangs up on you.

Just FYI, if you are ever in Oakland and have trouble, DO NOT CALL 911. Call the police directly at 510-777-3333

This Oakland 911 problem is, I think, the biggest single technical problem with Oakland as a whole, and it's been this way for 20 years...

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#65

Post by FireBeyond »

Spooky23 wrote: post #16
craftyguy wrote: post #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?

Law enforcement already can get this data from carriers. This allows first responders to get the information from people calling 911. That’s a good thing!

The movie stylized version of this has 911 able to trace your location in near realtime.

The reality version involves multiple calls or working with a provider and can take up to an hour to get a "Stage 2" (accurate) location. It doesn't happen in real time. "Stage 1" data gives Dispatch a lat/long, with a confidence percentage.

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#66

Post by philip1209 »

VonGuard wrote: post #63

Oakland needs this help so badly. Call 911 on a cell in Oakland, and you're going to wait on hold for 30 minutes, most of which will be you being transfered to the wrong departments over and over. You start at a call center somewhere in middle America with a person who does not know where Oakland is. They pass you to CA CHP, who don't know Oakland either, because their dispatcher on the line is out of Sacramento. Fin…

SF 911 hold times are ridiculous. On two occasions (out of about four ever) I abandoned the call after being on hold for 5+ minutes.

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#67

Post by jakebasile »

VectorLock wrote: post #62
hhh wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better yet, use the victim's phone if possible.

Hey dying person, whats your PIN code?

Every cell phone has a way to bypass the lock to call 911 or local equivalent emergency number. It'll even work if the phone line is disabled for some reason, or if the phone doesn't have a SIM.

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#68

Post by filleduchaos »

vxNsr wrote: post #20
abtinf wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what circumstances would you want to contact 911 but not reveal your location?

Maybe you just don't want your location ever being sent to a gov agency no matter your predicament.

You do realize that the police/fire services that would be dispatched to you are government agencies that you're going to have to tell your location, right?

Why are you calling 911 if you don't want emergency services to know where you are?

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#69

Post by dpark »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #58
dpark wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, sure, if Apple wants to spend their money upgrading rural 911 call centers, good for them. But do you feel that it's reasonable to expect this, and if so, why?

Because without the call center support, their marketing of it as a feature in iOS 12 is a moot point. “Look at this awesome life saving feature that only works in wealthy parts of the US!”

I don't grasp this logic. Apple builds a feature to help with 911 services so they should fund 911 services? Apple also implemented Amber Alert support. Should they fund the Amber Alert system, too?

Aren't emergency services pretty clearly the government's job? You already pay a fee on your cell bill specifically to cover the cost of 911 services to your local and state governments.

Re: Apple sets up iPhones to relay location for 911 calls

#70

Post by dpark »

rainbowmverse wrote: post #29
abtinf wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not the context of this news. The context here is recording pertinent information when a person chooses to request emergency law enforcement, medical, and fire services.

Imagine the call is from a gay bar (or the vicinity). The data leaks. Now coworkers know, none of them are okay with it (even if they never confirm their assumptions), and there are no legal protections when they get fired. There are a lot of non-obvious ways seemingly-innocent data can harm marginalized groups.

You are calling 911. The purpose of the call is specifically to ask the government to send someone to your location.
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