GPS... BUT FOR YOUR 999 CALL

You may have heard Communications Minister Denis Naughten the week announcing the launch of AML, Advanced Mobile Location, for Android phone users. AML is a system that uses your phone’s location finding technology to tell emergency services exactly where you are. It uses Wi-Fi, GPS and mobile phone towers to get the most accurate location and which is then sent from your phone straight to the emergency services if you call 999 or 112. The technology is for the sole use of the emergency services, so your precise location is never seen, or even handled by Google who say the new service is supported by more than 99% of existing Android devices. You don’t even need to enable location services for AML to work as it’s built in to the operating system and will activate location services if an emergency call is made. Surprisingly, Apple haven’t signed up to AML. Perhaps they’re reviewing privacy concerns. For now iPhone users don’t yet have access to the feature but it seems likely they will join the initiative soon.