Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE EXACT LOCATION and GPS coordinates of those that call 999 or 112 from their Android mobile phones will soon be sent by text to emergency services.
A pilot scheme for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) is currently underway with three major phone network providers and is due to be officially launched by the Minister for Communications, Denis Naughten, in a matter of weeks.
The new system for emergency callers is aimed to provide locations in circumstances where:
The location technology, which has been developed by Google, is a lot more precise than the information which is currently received for standard mobile phone calls.
How will it work?
When an emergency call is made, the phone will activate GPS and send a text message in the background with the location information. The location information is a lot more exact than that received from standard mobile calls.
Minimum battery level on the phone is needed to enable the service and there is no charge to the caller for the text.
Unlike other location services, no app installation is needed for the service to work. Callers simply call emergency numbers 999 or 112 as normal, and a text will be sent.
Currently, it is only the location of the nearest mast that is sent when a mobile phone is used to dial the emergency services for help.
When someone calls the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) in Ireland, the cell identity is supplied with the emergency call, which is then looked up in the ECAS database. The information is then converted into a geographic location. This is the standard approach throughout Europe.
Mobile phone masts
However, a commonly cited problem with cell ID is the variance in distance which may apply around a particular network mast.
Mobile network masts can sometimes be at least 10-15 kilometres away from the location of the actual emergency, making it a lot more difficult for first responders.
A report for Ofcom in the UK noted that the cell ID location could be up to one kilometre away in dense urban areas and 35 kilometres away in remote rural areas. The report also states that accuracy can occasionally decrease further when a handset connects to a mast further away for reasons such as signal strength or congestion.
While mobile phone technology has moved on significantly in the last decade, there has been no agreement reached globally as to how location information can be best used by the emergency services.
Google technology
The department states that in the absence of any such standards, Google developed it’s own approach for emergency callers on its Android operating system.
Speaking about the new technology, Minister Denis Naughten said the precise device based location “will be of vital assistance to the emergency services in responding to and dispatching emergency personnel to callers in need across Ireland, but particularly in rural areas”.
He added:
It will save time and potentially safe lives. People of all ages in need of several types of emergency assistance will be helped by this technology.
The Emergency Call Answering Service receives on average 4,000 mobile calls per day. In Ireland, Android market penetration is in excess of 60%, which means that when the system is fully enabled precise device based caller location could be provided and seamlessly made available for up to 2,400 calls per week.
AML is currently going live for all Android mobile phones being used on mobile networks in the UK and Estonia.
Norway, Sweden and Finland are at an advanced trials solution and are expected to go live in the next few months.
Naughten confirmed he will be launching the service in Ireland within three weeks.
The European Emergency Number Association anticipates that ten countries will be AML-ready by the end of this year.
While there may be concerns about how personal location data is used, it is understood that privacy and data rights for all phone users is to be maintained.
AML is only triggered when an emergency call is made from the phone.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Is there anything in this country that is honest? That is truthful? That isn’t greedy? That isn’t corrupt? ………I’m still waiting …….?
@Playmisty4me: youtube.com/watch?v=RybNI0KB1bg
@Playmisty4me: it’s the Irish culture of greed. It’s OK if its not found out. Say sorry and it will be forgotten. Lesson learnt. Look at RTE at the moment. What are people going to do. Rise up!?. Back bone is gone. People just trying to survive while the elite keep showing contempt to us.
@Playmisty4me: Unfortunately Definitely Not, it would seem!
@Playmisty4me: got it in one.
@Playmisty4me: we’re pirates, and when we were forced to stop robbing the brits we turned on each other.
@Dave Barrett: the Irish do not have a monopoly on corruption. The world is drowning in a tsunami of corruption.
@Dave Barrett: George Orwell hit the nail on the head when he penned Animal Farm.
@Patricia Mc Namara: True, but we are close to the been one of the top leaders.
@Playmisty4me: Jesus (The only Truth, the Way and the Light) and the TLM.
The real story I think is that laptops and PCs were ordered to be destroyed rather than resold, instead of securely erased, over worry that sensitive data might be retrieved from resold government laptops.
However, are free utilities that can permanently erase sensitive data off hard drives and SSDs, allowing resale and reuse of computers that contain sensitive data. An example is Boot and Nuke:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darik’s_Boot_and_Nuke
Instead of simply formatting a hard drive, which is not sucure, boot and nuke and similar utilities overwrite hard drives 3 to 7 times, making data irretrievable (7 passes is the US Department of Defence 5220.22-M Disk Wiping Standard).
Once erasure is applied rigorously, as rigorously as physically shredding laptops and PCs, I don’t see a problem with erasing and reselling instead of dump truck millions of euros of ICT equipment that could be used for several more years by charities and in education.
@David Jordan: correct link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darik’s_Boot_and_Nuke
@David Jordan: asset disposition is a secure procees offering certificate of destruction for audits and security. Not a DIY or handyman job. This is a major no no.
@David Jordan: We note your basic knowledge of software tools to erase and/or destroy information. These methods are indeed, quite important, particularly in our operations when disseminating information to the public, which may be wholly biased or inaccurate, but nonetheless, supports our core intentions and goals.
@David Jordan: the problem is the market place and classic tech approach of not making something very well so that people need to keep buying it. Laptops and PCs should long ago have been modular with all parts plug and play, but for some billionaire needing another pair of solid gold slippers.
@Lad: I think David Jordan is completely correct. There is various free software which will securely wipe hard drives, etc. It takes several hours.
Run it overnight before handing in a computer to be recycled.
Google “securely erase hdd”
@thesaltyurchin: technology moves on, get over it
@A D: There is, and rhey have their place but to dispose of assets in a corporate environment sometimes it’s required to get a data destruction certificate for drives with sensitive data on them.
@thesaltyurchin: pc and laptops used to be modular. You used to be able to change the ram and hard drive without taking the whole PC apart you could also upgrade to chips as well. Now your not able to fix your own PC or take it to whoever you want to fix it. Corporate greed took over that’s why you have people trying to get law’s changed so the consumer has the right to repair
It seems not ! An unfortunate u-turn on what was once a proud Nation.
@calum Tierney: we’ve always been this way. Once the brits left, a certain class of mostly land owning elites, in conjuction with the Catholic Church, swooped in and took charge and ran the country for their own benefit. There has been a culture of backhanders etc at all levels of society ever since, and a certain class who felt tax was fir little people. That’s why we had Ansbacher, millions of pounds going out of the country, while the economy tanked.
@calum Tierney: the only thing we were proud of was our pride!!!!! Karma comes to mind.
Better than dumping them all the same ! Doubt much money was made but corruption is corruption nevertheless. It’s an Irish thing and it makes me laugh !
We all know it !
Can these cabbages at the top do anything right in this country?. Seriously like is there not one area where we can say as a nation, we are proud cos such and such arent corrupt, dont over charge for everything or deliver what is asked without any problems….
Who profited from this? Was it Rehab selling them on or corrupt individuals pocketing the money for them selves? Is it a corruption or data sharing issue?
We are unfortunately not in the position to comment regarding the careful actions taken by our experts operating within you government buildings regarding electronic voting machines, notwithstanding we remain pleased with the results which have been particularly effective in terms of your democracy.
They don’t want to erase the data as that will make the device useless and the operating system would also be erased. Reinstall would take too much effort
Hard drive data was destroyed so nothing to see here – the real problem is that if you get let’s say a monitor from your company to use as a home worker – and then later when it’s broken you bring it to the ‘bring site’ – they will say it’s not a domestic purchase (happens in Kinsale Road Cork) – then you are stuck with an electronic device that no one will recycle unless your company have the ability to take it back.
@Edd: can confirm, I have 2 broken screens laying around I can’t seem to get rid of, bring centre won’t take it, can’t find someone to fix them (and they’re old).
@: Seems a bit strange to me.
My local recycling centre is taking any electronics.
I even got rid of an old server.
How could they even know if it’s a private or business used screen?
@Wolfgang Bonow: they have one of those (non removable) metal tags with numbers companies add to their inventory.
Oh, for heaven’s sake, if a company cannot secure its own customer data, they should go back to mainframes and midranges built with security in mind.
have your say