Google has announced that it is debuting a brand new feature to protect its users’ safety, with over 99% of existing Android smartphones in the UK now alerting emergency services to the location of their callers.
The Emergency Location Service has seen Google collaborate with multiple mobile network operators including EE, BT, O2, Vodafone and 3, with it aiding emergency services by utilising location technologies such as Wi-Fi and GPS in order to more accurately pinpoint the caller’s whereabouts. This will ensure that even if a caller is unable to identify their location, the ELS can do so for them.
The new feature is available on the vast majority of Google Android phones updated with version 2.3 and up, with it set to be much more helpful than the previous methods used by police and other public services, which used cell towers and assisted GPS, both of which were unreliable. In a blog post announcing the feature, Google notes that the US Federal Communications Commission estimated that “an improved location accuracy which results in reducing wireless E911 response time by one minute can result in saving over 10,000 lives annually”.
Google has stated that the service is “solely for the use of emergency service providers”, adding that users’ locations are “never seen or handled by Google” and that it is only sent to providers when you make an emergency call. Though it’s a little disconcerting that the police now have greater access to the location of members of the general public, Google’s has asserted that the feature can only be utilized in the case of an emergency, and that it can only be activated by the caller.
Emergency Location Service is activated when supported by your network provider, with its roll-out in Europe beginning with the UK and Estonia. Google didn’t confirm if it will be making its way to other countries.
