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by car_analogy 1518 days ago
It's revolting that we've allowed functionality to betray its owner to be legally mandated into "our" devices. It's no surprise that they keep this so very discreet.

Edit: I am specifically referring to the e911 ability to without owner interaction or knowledge send GPS coordinates, not to network-side triangulation, or even to sending GPS coordinates when the owner initiates a 911 call.
2 comments
ghaff 1518 days ago
It's "your" device but you're using it to communicate with things that are not your cell phone tower or telecoms network. One can have a reasonable discussion about the circumstances under which the telco doesn't/shouldn't know where your phone is but clearly there's some point where it's a function of using your phone.

(As others have noted there may be some confusion here between GPS data and cell tower triangulation.)

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kube-system 1518 days ago
I remember seeing it talked about on local news when it was being implemented. It was normal to list “e911 support” on the outside of phone boxes when it was a new feature. Just checked my desk drawer and it is listed on the box of one of my HTC phones and one of my Samsung phones.

E911 can also use triangulation which is isn’t “in” your phone anyway. It’s possible with any type of radio transmission due to plain old physics.

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