Comment by webstrand
No? If the device is connected to a cell, they can still triangulate it just like normal.
No? If the device is connected to a cell, they can still triangulate it just like normal.
Which emergency can happen that I really want this? And now don't say suicide attempt. Nearby all emergencies that could happen where someone needs my exact position are things that would additionally lead to a loss of the base connection or a switched off smart phone.
Indeed.
How might people suggest that this would work, do you suppose?
"We've narrowed the victim's location down to one city block, boys! Assemble a posse and start knocking on doors: If they don't answer, kick it in!" ?
(And before anyone says "Well, it can work however it used to work!" please remember: Previously, we had landline phones in our homes. When we called 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 for emergency services, there was a database that linked the landline to a street address and [if applicable] unit.
That doesn't work anymore because, broadly-speaking, we now have pocket supercomputers instead of landlines.)
Sure. But we usually didn't need it: We kept the phone numbers for our friends, family, and our favorite pizza place memorized.
And if the phone rang, it was answered. It was almost certainly a real person calling; spam calls were infrequent to the point of almost never happening.
It was a different time, and it is lost to us now.
(We do still have public name-to-address databases, though. For instance: In my state of Ohio, that part of a person's voter registration is public information that anybody can access. Everyone is still effectively doxxed and it's still not a security issue.)
In an emergency you might really want GPS precision.