Australia introduces AML mobile phone tracking technology to locate 000 callers

abc.net.au

25 points·adrian_mrd··8 comments

000, Triple Zero, is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia.

> About 50 per cent of calls to triple zero are made with mobile phones that are AML-capable. That includes Androids running version 4.1 and higher with Google Play services, iPhones running IOS 14.3 or later and Apple Watch GPS running 7.2 or later.

Something must be wrong about this statement. Android 4.1 came out in 2012 and almost every active iOS device runs the latest version. So where are these 50% of ancient phones coming from.

I think a large amount would be the front desk at nursing homes

I'm guessing older people who call 000 from a fixed line or VoIP?

If those services have a way of handing off location I'm guessing it's not AML?

Landlines or VOIP?

Dumbphones?

I found the description of "lies dormant until a call to 000 is placed" curious. Is the OS determining when AML is activated? Or is it always active (since it takes a bit of time to scan WiFi networks, get a GPS lock, et cetera), and only provides data when a call to "emergency service" is placed? How is that determined? Does the network tell the handset (which seems rife for abuse for surveillance).

In the US, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_9-1-1 is a similar system. Is AML similar? An extension? An expansion of already existing systems?

For E911, the phone’s operating system will sent location information when dialing a emergency number.

According to the Wikipedia article, this data is sent separately to a different system that call centers can access. I would assume Australia is connecting to this system.

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