iOS 12 will automatically share your iPhone’s location with 911 centers (using GPS and Wi-Fi Access points)

[LASER_oneXM]

Content source

https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/18/ios-12-will-automatically-share-your-iphones-location-with-911-centers/

Apple this morning announced a new feature in iOS 12 which will automatically share your location with first responders when U.S. users dial 911 using their iPhone. The move is meant to address the problems with dialing emergency services from a cell phone, where outdated infrastructure has made it difficult to obtain a mobile caller’s location quickly and accurately, Apple says.

Approximately 80 percent of 911 calls come from cell phones, however, which is why it’s critical to fix this system.

In 2015, Apple launched HELO (Hybridized Emergency Location), which would estimate a caller’s location using GPS and Wi-Fi Access points. Today, Apple said it will additionally use RapidSOS’s Internet Protocol-based data pipeline to securely share this HELO location data with 911 centers, to improve the response times even further.

In typical Apple fashion, the company stressed the new feature’s data privacy. User location data cannot be shared for non-emergency purposes, and only the 911 center will have access to the location during the call itself.

The 911 support was not announced during Apple’s software-heavy WWDC keynote earlier this month, where a number of other privacy, security and A.I.-powered features were introduced as coming later this year in iOS 12. Typically, the new version of Apple’s mobile operating system is release to the public during September, and that should hold true for iOS 12 as well.

 

[upnorth]

Hard coded backdoor?

 

[Weebarra]

I assume you need the GPS enabled on your device for this which isn't much use if like me, you don't turn it on or is not an option to turn it off on IOS ? I know most people have theirs on but i see no need for it with myself

 

[vtqhtr413]

Location services can be turned off on iPhones but I'm not sure if it will be overridden by this new feature.

 

[upnorth]

Location services can be turned off on iPhones but I'm not sure if it will be overridden by this new feature.

With iOS12 this feature is On even if you kill the location service. I just imagine what could happen if someone would gain access to 911 for what ever reson. Every single phone with iOS12 would be visible and possible to track. I wonder if it also works even when the phone is off as Google had that on Android. Google tracks customer movements with phones even when off | Daily Mail Online

 

[Weebarra]

With iOS12 this feature is On even if you kill the location service. I just imagine what could happen if someone would gain access to 911 for what ever reson. Every single phone with iOS12 would be visible and possible to track. I wonder if it also works even when the phone is off as Google had that on Android. Google tracks customer movements with phones even when off | Daily Mail Online

That is what i was thinking of when i read this @upnorth because it was still fresh in my mind from when someone posted about it on here, quite worrying to be honest :emoji_fearful: