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An End To Phone Pranking (axios.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: A researcher at Carnegie Mellon University has developed an intelligent system that is helping the U.S. Coast Guard to distinguish and weed out prank mayday calls that cost it up to millions of dollars a year when it flies or motors out on pointless rescue missions, per Govtech.com. The program, created by Carnegie Mellon's Rita Singh, creates a barcode of a person's voice, deciphering whether the caller really is on a boat or actually in a house somewhere. It can unmask repeat pranksters since it can pick up telltale markers and match them up.
Whilst a really cool technology, I hope it never makes a mistake and says a real-life situation is really a prank.
The cost of mistake with this tech could be one or more people's lives.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
...what's to stop said prankster from playing audio of a boat in the background?
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Me too! As an avid boater I don't appreciate the possibility of being put in danger because some prankster caused the development of a system like this. If I am stuck on the water, in danger, I want the coast guard to come to my rescue. I definitely don't want them wasting time trying to determine if I am an actual boater in distress or a prankster. When a boat is sinking or on fire time is of the essence!!
An End To Phone Pranking
Challenge accepted.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Trace the damn phones!
The phone companies are mandated to provide emergency services with position information, and if GPS isn't available that's cell tower triangulation... and so far as I am aware that data is added to the stream AFTER the call, so you can't easily spoof it unless you've hacked the phone system itself.
That data comes in a second or two after the initial phone connection is made, it's not like you need a warrant and have to get through to a person at the phone company to process the request.
I'm guessing the article is confused.
If it's an emergency phone call to the Coast Guard, they could just use the GPS support like E911 so they get a location from the cell phone. Surely, that's the only type of phone being used on a boat these days.
I think what this is really about is people calling in on VHF (marine) radio, not a phone.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
When ever I get up in the morning, there is a chance that something will kill me that day. However I welcome the verity of services and infrastructures that tries to keep me safe, and help rescue me if I am in danger.
I am well aware that these services and infrastructure may not be able to save me, but I still hope they are available. And that is why I don't abuse these services as they will then be able to help someone else, and hope others are not abusing it for the time I may need it.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
TFA that the submitter linked to is a junk article written by someone who didn't understand how the Coast Guard works and assumed "calls" meant phone calls. It's so badly written the only reason I can think of for someone to use it in a submission is to drive page clicks for ad revenue. TFA links to the actual article which is much more informative and better written, although it crucially never clarifies what type of "calls" the Coast Guard responds to.
VHF channel 16 is a dedicated marine emergency frequency around the world. In U.S. waters, the US Coast Guard monitors this channel 24/7 and responds to any mayday calls. So the "calls" here are VHF radio calls, not phone calls. A mayday call is supposed to identify your vessel, provide a location, state the problem, and how many people are aboard your vessel, in that order. But things rarely go the way they're supposed to and lots of mayday calls are partial or missing crucial information. The USCG has to assume these are real and the boat sank or radio died before complete information could be broadcast, and deploy search and rescue assets.
Unfortunately there is no universal caller ID on VHF radios. Some of the newer ones will automatically identify your vessel and/or provide your location, but most VHF radios used by recreational boaters are old analog units which simply broadcast only what you say into them. So the only thing the USCG frequently gets is a voice in the RF ether claiming people are in danger of dying. (The USCG will also respond to a cell phone call if it claims to be from a boat close enough to shore to get cell phone service, or if it's from someone reporting a vessel overdue based on a float plan that was filed before leaving.)
whether the caller really is on a boat or actually in a house somewhere
I live on a houseboat, you insensitive clod!
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Should the person living on a boat pay for the fire department to be available for your house?
As a society we've decided to work together so that everyone shoulders the burden equally. They pay for you just as much as you pay for them.
I am a tax payer and I am not an avid boater. I have no reason to save you at all costs.
Ahhh... so
If you don't have kids, you shouldn't have to pay taxes for schools.
If you don't drive, you shouldn't have to pay to up keep roads.
You never want us to be at war with another country, so why should you pay taxes to fund the military.
You've never had your house robbed, why should your taxes go to pay for the police. You're not expecting to be held up at gunpoint any time soon- screw paying for a police force.
You don't go to national parks, why should you have to pay for it?
None of your family are unemployed, why should you pay taxes for benefits.
You live on a hill, why should you pay for flood control in your city.
You're not a woman, why should your taxes pay for rape prevention initiatives.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I am a tax payer and I am not an avid boater. I have no reason to save you at all costs. Only as long as rescue costs are reasonable, it will be funded. If the cost becomes too much, we would yank the entire rescue service.
That would be a gross violation of over 1000 years of jurisprudence and legal precedence, not to mention the violation of any number of modern international agreements and treaties. Every seafaring nation has a duty of care for the waters they border, and every mariner be they recreational or commercial, is part of the system. This is the cost of being a nation, and of engaging in maritime trade.
Now, that said, most distress situations are only coordinated by the coastguard rather than run by them. I've responded to a couple of distress situations over the years while out sailing. In one case it was a stranded kitesurfer, in the other case a motorboat with a dead engine. In the kitesurfer, he was a mile off the beach, with a flooded kite and cold. I took him onboard, gathered up the kite, and took him to the nearest dock. In the case of the motorboat I tossed them a line, and held them off the rocks until the local tow service (commercial operation) got out there to haul him into the dock. In both cases I would never expect compensation beyond a thank-you; I just expect that the same consideration would be given to me in return should I ever run into trouble.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
You don't think people who have boats pay taxes?
Statistically they pay more taxes on average than those who do not.
The solution to misuse of emergency services is never to disband that service. the solution is to find the pranksters and deal with them.
That 1000 years of jurisprudence is just a convention. No nation or people are expected to do unreasonable or heroic things.
No, but it is generally expected that people and nations would do reasonable things for the safety and wellbeing of those at sea. Completely terminating the search and rescue as the OP proposed would be unreasonable.
If I came across a bunch of drunk teenagers who were laughing at me for responding, you better believe that I would be making the appropriate reports, both through the coastguard and through the police.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...