If you call 111 can they track your location using your mobile phone information?
- Thread starter Cromulent
- Start date
Commissario
IIRC the reason they ask for the number is specifically for the call back so if it drops they guarantee a way to contact you again as in some situations you may not be calling from a phone you have normal access to or because if you call with a sim they can't call back, the call number or other ID is always logged by default. Basically it's confirmation of the number you want them to use to contact you if needed most of the time, but in the event of you calling from a device without an active sim it becomes the only number they have to contact you again. It's a belt and braces approach that allows for the edge cases.
Any mobile phone is in theory able to contact the local emergency services with or without an active sim or subscription, from memory that has been baked into the specifications since the very very early models (possibly the start of the digital mobiles), and is part of the reason you may not be able to make a normal call because your provider doesn't do service where you are (or are out of credit), but it will use any available operator and their systems have to accept (IIRC at a high/very high priority) any attempt by any mobile to call any of the emergency numbers*, as the call is then made using the IMIE of the device.
The emergency services can track a mobile by the IMEI but it's harder/more time consuming than if it's got an active sim** , what they can't do is call back on it as the active sim is what gives the mobile network the ability to actively route billable events etc.
In short.
Mobiles don't need to have a working number/sim to call for help or be tracked. They cannot however be called back if they don't have a working sim and the emergency services ability to do things like find the location of your call is impeded but not stopped (they fall back to older tools).
*IIRC 999, 911 etc are all registered and usable these days regardless of where you are because it was recognised that people with mobiles are likely to take them abroad where the emergency number may be different.
**IIRC if it's got an active sim they can potentially get the phone to report it's GPS, if they're working with IMEI they may be reliant on what the mobile phone towers say which is basically "the phone is in this area general area" as opposed to "the phone is within few meter of this specific location".
That's better than my experience from summer 2022 when I called 999 after finding an old man collapsed on the path alongside the Thames. They wanted a street address which I couldn't give them. Despite being in London we were about a mile from the nearest road. They said they could not get my location automatically and wouldn't accept GPS coordinates. They said I had to give them a what3words location. Pain in the butt. Glad it's improved now.
Soldato
Why are people dialling 999 rather than 112 anyway? Don't think I've ever thought about 999 other than in primary school. It's always been 112 for me.
In anywise isn't this thread about 111 which isn't an emergency number in anyway shape or form.
p.s. I know you can use both and also 911 etc..
In anywise isn't this thread about 111 which isn't an emergency number in anyway shape or form.
p.s. I know you can use both and also 911 etc..
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Soldato
If you’ve allowed your phone to share location during emergency calls from a mobile, they’ll have got your GPS location.
Caporegime
They have to get permission from the commissioner to ping your number and even that is a approximation and not an exact location. They also have to ask for information from things like Snapchat, Instagram etc to get your location which also requires permission and if you are behind a VPN no chance.
The police are pretty useless at tracking people in all reality. It is not like the movies.
The police are pretty useless at tracking people in all reality. It is not like the movies.
Soldato
They don't need the mobile as will ping the nanites from your COVID vaccination..
101 is the non-emergency police number anyhow, 111 is for medical advice. I'm not really sure which this thread is about unless someone was on the nose with the STD comment.
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Soldato
Do I even wanna ask
Found a lost kid in the woods whilst walking the dog. Police reunited them pretty quickly. Certainly my most eventful dog walk! What three words also came in handy.
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This is why. If I call them and don't know where I am will they be able to find me even if I don't know myself.
I suspect OP is suggesting to or alluding to suicidal intent or ideation but doesn’t want an ambulance or police response.
iirc 111 cannot get your phone ping, but when you call 999 you connect to BT who then ask which emergency service you want. BT can see where your phone is based via the triangulation of which phone masts your connected to, and give this to the emergency service you request to help find you so if you are screaming “help I’ve been stabbed” and then can’t say where you are, they can send help looking for you where you are connecting from, to varying degrees of accuracy.
iirc 111 cannot get your phone ping, but when you call 999 you connect to BT who then ask which emergency service you want. BT can see where your phone is based via the triangulation of which phone masts your connected to, and give this to the emergency service you request to help find you so if you are screaming “help I’ve been stabbed” and then can’t say where you are, they can send help looking for you where you are connecting from, to varying degrees of accuracy.
Then why use the term “refuse to give it to them”
Ah, sorry. I'm not explaing myself properly. I honestly shouldn't have started this thread. Didn't think it through.
No it’s ok brother. Your language just doesn’t make sense to me that’s all, but that’s alright. It’s a fair and legitimate question to ask and probably quite difficult to find an answer.
Soldato
I know a system exists to text a web link to a phone, person clicks it and grants location permission, phone shares your gps with the website. Wouldn't expect 111 to have it, it's used for search and rescue.
That isn't the Brexit I voted for