Part of iOS12 coming out later this year, iPhones will soon automatically share your location with first responders when you call 911.
This is all thanks to a new partnership between Apple and startup RapidSOS.
Under the new system, iPhones will send their exact location to a RapidSOS dispatcher, which will then forward the coordinates to local emergency response centers.
That should make it easier for ambulances and paramedics to reach callers and shave precious minutes off response times, potentially saving 10,000 lives per year.
Cellphone carriers currently share location estimates with emergency dispatchers, but these can be off by as much as a few hundred yards.
Apple says the location data cannot be shared if 911 has not been called and that RapidSOS’ data will be separate from that held by cellphone carriers.
RapidSOS is free for emergency response centers, but is currently used by less than half nationwide.
The company expects this to increase to a majority of centers by the end of the year.
What do you think about this?