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There are times when you can't speak e.g. you're being held at gunpoint. Will the iphone send your location to 911 as well? Android phones seem to be able to do this.
Please let me know.
Yes. Details: Use Emergency SOS on your iPhone - Apple Support
Different countries and regions and dispatch centers may or may not be able to process E911 location data.
For the US, some background: https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/location-tracking4.htm
Part of how iPhone tries to determine a more precise location than might otherwise be available:
Yes. Details: Use Emergency SOS on your iPhone - Apple Support
Different countries and regions and dispatch centers may or may not be able to process E911 location data.
For the US, some background: https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/location-tracking4.htm
Part of how iPhone tries to determine a more precise location than might otherwise be available:
BobHarris wrote:
The iPhone may not need to actually send your location, because your carrier may do that as part of the 911 call
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/911-wireless-services
US FCC is seeking devices sending the location of the phone, and iOS 12 and later can provide that. This as tower-derived locations around here can have an 8 km margin, which is ~useless. And tower-derived locations in built-up areas can be fickle at best.
Thanks Mr. Hoffman. I had read the page you provided but nowhere does it say that it sends location data to emergency services. It says that it sends location data to my emergency contacts. Perhaps it's such a standard practice to send location data to emergency services that they think it's not necessary to say this, but I'm asking for people based outside of the USA.
Thanks Bob. I will have to check what the situation is outside of the USA. It would be helpful for Apple to state how location data is provided to emergency services on the support page. It says that location data is sent to emergency contacts but doesn't say anything about emergency services, so I'm left wondering if that's because the SOS function puts me on a call with them and they expect I'll tell them.
In the USA it is the carriers who send the location information. That requirement is part of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act and its subsequent amendments. The big network Carriers in the USA have since incorporated aGPS data into their reporting systems. The act requires carriers to report that information for both landline and cellular communications, and even when the call initiates form an unlisted number.
Text to e911 is also available in some locations in the USA, but not all call centers have that technology in place yet (https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/what-you-need-know-about-text-911).
You only read one link. Keep reading. One of the other links provides more details on what Apple was providing for 911.
As for international emergency-call geolocation, that will vary by country, and by region, and by carrier.
If you have a specific country of interest beyond the obviously US-centric discussions here, you'll need to identify that country or region for further discussions here, or for discussions directly with the folks at Apple, or discussions with the communications and regulatory authorities in the particular country or region.
Having gone through telco product regulatory approval in various countries and regions, it's very much an ever-shifting patchwork of rules and regulations and opinions and carriers, too.
And GPS location and street addresses aren't a panacea for emergency responders, even in areas with so-called 911 addressing or 911 house-numbering plans. Nor are the built-in automotive crash notifications, for that matter.
If this topic interests you, I'd suggest discussions more directly with local emergency services and with the local or regional dispatch services, and with regional and national telecommunications regulators. Some localities and some regions and some countries are a little more organized here, and others... not so much.
The iPhone may not need to actually send your location, because your carrier may do that as part of the 911 call
Does the 911 call also send your location to emergency services like it does to your emergency contacts?
