SOS Google: a wave of fake calls for help!

Google and Apple are building automated backup features into their devices. Recently, Android has integrated a set called Security, allowing to trigger a beacon or to automatically share the medical file of the user to the rescuers. One of these options causes concern for operators: the emergency call.

SOS feature causes fake emergency calls

With the arrival of Android 12, Google has introduced on its Pixels the possibility of triggering an emergency call simply by pressing the ignition button on your smartphone several times. After a ten-second countdown, the call to the emergency number (112, 17, etc.) is made. The feature has been generalized to all devices with the arrival of Android 13.

The update added a new SOS emergency function for devices to call 999 through the power button being pressed 5 times or more.

These ‘silent calls’ as they are named, are directed to police control rooms and the result has been a significant increase in silent calls.

— National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) (@PoliceChiefs) June 17, 2023

It is the arrival of this version that is the cause of all evil. Thus, the operators of 999, the British emergency number, have identified since its deployment an increase in so-called silent calls. These are emergency calls with no one on the line, often simple pocket calls. In fact, the functionality of Android would be at the origin of a significant part of these false calls.

Android will update the feature

For the moment, Google does not know what is the origin of the problem. The main hypothesis on the table is that of overly sensitive power keys at certain manufacturers, or badly positioned. While waiting to find a definitive solution, the Californian firm offers manufacturers resources and advice on the use of its emergency functionality.

Pending a solution, Samsung has decided to give its users the possibility of disable the feature, or just disable the countdown. If the anecdote may seem trivial, it is actually very interesting on the issues of manufacturers’ sovereignty.

So when Google releases its fix, the question will be whether Android market leader Samsung will be forced to roll back its changes or be able to keep its own version of the feature.