iOS Update Will Share Your Location With First Responders

The latest version of iOS,to be released later this year, will feature location sharing when a phone call to 9-1-1 is made. According to Apple, iPhone users calling for emergency help will be able to securely share their location, providing for faster response times in life-threatening situations.

Approximately 80% of emergency calls are made from mobile phones, so Apple CEO Tim Cook explains that communities “should have the best available technology at their disposal.” The update will rely on Hybridized Emergency Location (HELO) technology, which was launched in 2015 by Apple to send out callers’ locations to 9-1-1 based on their proximity to a cell phone tower. It will also use the RapidSOS system, which is already in use by many 9-1-1 dispatch centers across the country.  According to The Verge, Apple has emphasized that this will not affect their privacy policy, since the location sharing will not be used in “non-emergency situations.”

President of the National Emergency Number Association,  quoted by Apple, has called the new iOS update an official launch of “next generation 9-1-1 for everyone,” adding that Apple is “saving lives and protecting property.”