Putting a Panic Button In Smartphone Users' Hands

theodp writes "If you own an Android phone, you may have inadvertently butt-dialed 911 from time-to-time. So, wonders Kix Panganiban, why don't our phones come with a universal 'Panic Button', that would make it just as easy to intentionally dial the police when it's truly needed? Panganiban envisions "a smartphone app that when triggered, would discreetly send out a distress message to contacts of your choice, and perhaps do some other functions that can get you out of bad (and maybe even life-threatening) situations." While a quick search reveals that some have taken a crack at apps that put a Panic Button in smartphone users' hands, are there good reasons why such a feature isn't just standard on mobile devices? And, with GPS and always-watching and always-listening tech only becoming cheaper and more ubiquitous, how far out in the future is it before your person can be continuously remotely monitored like your residence, even while mobile, and what might that look like?"

Comments

Yes, here's why...

[QuietLagoon]

are there good reasons why such a feature isn't just standard on mobile devices?

Florida Woman Calls 911 After McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets

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There are too many stupid people on this planet, and our emergency response people are already overworked without having to respond to McNugget shortages.

Liability

[BenJeremy]

Who wants to be the first developer to get sued when your program doesn't dial 911 (perhaps because there is no signal)? Who wants to be the first developer sued because it got the location wrong?

Way too much liability potential. IT is too important a thing to mess up, and you can bet that something will mess up eventually, and the developer will be blamed, regardless of whether or not they are actually responsible.

Sigh.

[girlintraining]

Apparently people have already forgotten this has been done before. Before there were smart phones, there were just plain cell phones... tiny little indestructible bricks with flip-open LCDs. And it was thought that having a fast way to call 911, a panic button if you will, would be a useful feature. So pressing and holding '9' on these phones would connect you to emergency services.

This feature was redacted from all phones, everywhere, within a couple years, because it innundated emergency services with so-called "butt dials" and wrong numbers. You do not want '911' to be a one-button push on a mobile device. It ends badly.

*sigh*

[Runaway1956]

In today's world, few people seem to recognize an emergency situation. When I was growing up, the word "emergency" meant that someone's life was in jeopardy. One or more lives were in danger from an avalanche, a runaway train, a mad dog, a bank robber - something serious. And, people understood that they should avoid such emergency situations, or deal with the situation themselves.

Today? As you point out, very stupid people think that it's an emergency when they can't get their Chicken McNuggets.

Preposterous.

I say we go back to dealing with our own little emergencies, and just call the cops to come clean up after the fact. After all, when seconds count, the cops are only minutes away! Let's just grow up, learn to avoid and/or deal with emergencies, and stop fretting over phone apps.

Re:*sigh*

[AK Marc]

The police have worked their hardest to break that idea. I had a bike stolen. I called the non-emergency number to report it. I was told that to report a crime, I'd have to come to the station or dial 911. I've been to a station before, where the "guests" are treated like criminals, so I'd not do that. So the only practical way to report a non-emergency crime is to dial 911. The "stupid people" referred to wanted a police response because of a property disagreement. That they were black and inarticulate make news because we get to make fun of people for being stupid for doing what the police have explicitly told me was the "right" thing to do.

The system is designed to make people make stupid choices, so we can bash the user, rather than fix the problem. One guy in the search suggested was criminally deprived of his property. That's worthy of a 911 call, as the police have personally told me. But no, lets make fun of him because it was "just a McDonald's hamburger."

Re:*sigh*

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Where did you think the phrase "runs in the family" comes from?

Diarrhea . . . ?

Re:The problem

[erikkemperman]

The company I work at wanted to do something like this for, eg epilepsy patients. Triggered by accelerometers, would automagically try to contact from a preselected list of friends/relatives, using location tracking to find the nearest ones first. Would start to make loud noises and flash instructions on screen for passers by on how they might help. Escalate to real emergency services if need be. Pretty good idea, but we somehow never hot around to building it.

Of course there was potential for false alarms by dropping the device, but in that case it would be no problem for the patient to deactivate it.