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Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

arstechnica.com

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Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#81

Post by Stratoscope »

This happened to me last month after I landed at Chicago O'Hare!

> Texting with 22911 (SMS/MMS)

> Chicago 911, we received a call from you, do you have a Police, Fire or medical emergency?

> 9-1-1 has ended this conversation. 9-1-1 will not receive additional replies to this message. Call 9-1-1 to report an emergency.

I didn't see any of this until I took the phone out of my pocket.

I don't think it was from pressing the power button five times. With the case I have on my S22 Ultra, it takes a fairly hard press. And with where I keep the phone in my pocket, it doesn't seem that it would have gotten pressed at all, much less five times. But maybe that was it after all.

Is there another way an Android phone can do an unexpected 911 call?

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#82

Post by chimeracoder »

bombcar wrote: post #2

I had to disable the shortcuts on my iPhone because the toddler had discovered hold to dial 911 and talk to the nice lady. Luckily I caught it before it became like the other case I heard of, where a kid learned he could get a fire truck to visit anytime he was bored and had a phone.

> Luckily I caught it before it became like the other case I heard of, where a kid learned he could get a fire truck to visit anytime he was bored and had a phone.

Reminds me of the kid's book where a young girl (kindergarten age) really has to use the bathroom but can't find it so she calls 911 because she was taught "call 911 if and only if there is an emergency".

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#84

Post by fatnoah »

krzyk wrote: post #35
sowbug wrote: post #11

Possibly related: I've noticed that when I'm in humid weather and I stick my phone into a damp pocket, it basically monkey-tests until I pull it back out again. Flashlight might be on, string of gibberish might be queued up on a text message, etc. I'm normally really good about locking the screen when I'm done, but something with fingerprint or face recognition or lock screen quick actions behaves poorly.

I have the same thing, I tried to disable all functions of my Pixel 4 that would do that. It amazes me that the simplest thing is not done here: if proximity sensor senses your screen is covered - do not enable the screen ever. When I'm jogging my phone sometimes sends texts, runs apps etc, same when I have phone in my pocket. Why don't they use proximity sensor?

This was my frustration with the Pixel 4 as well. So many random things done on my phone, including Amazon 1 Click purchases or random emails about to be sent, etc. All because the stupid thing somehow decides that the screen should be enabled in my pocket. However, if I'm making a call with the phone up to my ear and move it to look at it..."no screen for you!"

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#85

Post by jstarfish »

notmyuserlogin wrote: post #42

It isn't just a problem with Android. I volunteer for a small fire department. We respond to about 500 calls a year. Since January I can think of three times the automatic crash detection on iOS devices has called us out by mistake. 1) A person left their phone on their car and it fell off. Being a small town one of the volunteers was able to find the owner and bring them the phone. 2) A gps location in the middle of…

> A gps location in the middle of a lake. The best we figure is one of the people on a jet ski or wake boarding

How do you rule out BUI/drowning? It would suck to be given up on. Is there ever any information indicating the call was placed by a device?

A classmate of mine accidentally drove into a lake and drowned when GPS/E911 conflict dispatched responders to the wrong location. It's not a perfect system to begin with, and made worse by automatic dialers undermining responder trust.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#87

Post by tazjin »

methodical wrote: post #75

This is anecdotal but the same exact thing (albeit with an Apple Watch vs. Android) happened to me a few days ago- I had forgotten to turn on the watch's water mode before going in the water. After about like 5 minutes in the pool it started calling 911 for a medical emergency. My watch ended up calling 911 about 3 times (it probably tried to call them about 5 more times but I ended up taking it off in time to preven…

I have a nice, handmade mechanical watch and it's never tried to spam-call any emergency services. Also shows the time fairly reliably.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#88

Post by peanut-walrus »

I dropped my Pixel in water and since it had previously cracked, it had lost the waterproofing. The water apparently shorted the power button and the screen. That was a fun night when the dead phone woke up and started dialling 112 repeatedly and there was nothing I could do short of smashing the damn thing with a hammer to stop it.

Every electronic device needs to have a physical disconnect for the power supply. It should be considered a severe enough fault to warrant not getting market approval if this is missing.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#90

Post by unsignedint »

peanut-walrus wrote: post #88

I dropped my Pixel in water and since it had previously cracked, it had lost the waterproofing. The water apparently shorted the power button and the screen. That was a fun night when the dead phone woke up and started dialling 112 repeatedly and there was nothing I could do short of smashing the damn thing with a hammer to stop it. Every electronic device needs to have a physical disconnect for the power supply. It…

I guess this is one of the major down sides of battery not being removeable...
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