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The NYPD is now embarking on a program to pinpoint cellphone users who call 911. After the City Island drowning of teenagers who used a cellphone in an attempt to give their location, only for the call to break break, the NYPD has new technology that will enhnace its reading of cellphone locations. Of course, this will be useful in other police situations they may need to investigate. The new technology will rollout in the next few months to all cellphone service providers.
NYPD Knows Cellphone Locations
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that will also help since every time i have called 911 on my cell i've been connected to a complete idiot. 'Sorry sir, i can't find the corner of 9th street and Avenue C, what is your address?'
Also raises interesting privacy concerns, however. Cell phone as tracking device could be a little Big Brother, no?
I don't think it raises privacy concerns because 911 can pinpoint your location if you call from a LAN line, I believe. And if you dial 911, that's a government agency...I don't think 911 guarantees privacy, I think it guarantees assistance.
I think that this is a great thing for NY and New Yorkers. It will enable helpful passerbys to actually make a difference and let assistance be dispached more rapidly.
actually, the police can already trace your cell phone location... it's just not immediate. it takes time to place the trace. 911 trace system has the advantage that from a LandLine it's immediate, this would shift that advantage over to the cellphone users too.
but yes, it's all a little too big brother, and it's been that way for quite a while...
Most new cellphones have an option to turn off location-tracking (except for when you make a 911 call.)
Also, most cell providers say that they have new "location-based services" in the works. I turned mine off -- aside from the very real privacy considerations, I just don't want ANOTHER way for them to spam me.
Really good article about this in July's issue of Legal Affairs magazine.
even if the intent is not malicious, when the technology is put in place, it's already compromising the situation. and if tracing cell phone callers becomes a matter of just a few seconds compared to few hours or days, it enough to change things. if someone doesn't have to go through the trouble of placing a trace and it's just a matter of just pressing one button, there's a greater chance it'll be misused -- not by 911 operators, but by anyone who can get their hands on the system. imagine if it was possible to hack into the 911 system from outside their network without them realizing it. could this person get access to the location of every cell phone user at any given moment? in such a case, I'd be curious as to how secure their network is.
then again, 911 location tracking sounds like an awesome feature. and I wonder how easy it *already* might be to trace a cell phone call.
Since the NYPD 911 operator now has a display of the location of the cell site thats picking up the call call, How are these calls surposed to be hadled? The cell phone site could pick up the cell phone caller who could be far removed from the cell site. I understand that some 911 operators are entering jobs to the cell phone site if they have no positive address. In one case I knbow 911 nofified FD of a fire at the cell phobne site and the fire was miles away.
Since the NYPD 911 operator now has a display of the location of the cell site thats picking up the call call, How are these calls surposed to be hadled? The cell phone site could pick up the cell phone caller who could be far removed from the cell site. I understand that some 911 operators are entering jobs to the cell phone site if they have no positive address. In one case I knbow 911 nofified FD of a fire at the cell phobne site and the fire was miles away.
Since the NYPD 911 operator now has a display of the location of the cell site thats picking up the call call, How are these calls surposed to be hadled? The cell phone site could pick up the cell phone caller who could be far removed from the cell site. I understand that some 911 operators are entering jobs to the cell phone site if they have no positive address. In one case I knbow 911 nofified FD of a fire at the cell phobne site and the fire was miles away.
Since the NYPD 911 operator now has a display of the location of the cell site thats picking up the call call, How are these calls surposed to be hadled? The cell phone site could pick up the cell phone caller who could be far removed from the cell site. I understand that some 911 operators are entering jobs to the cell phone site if they have no positive address. In one case I knbow 911 nofified FD of a fire at the cell phobne site and the fire was miles away.
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