Cell Phone GPS: Very Handy in an Emergency

One of the effects of September 11, 2001 was for the FCC to require every cell phone to have emergency tracking capabilities. The service called e911 mandates that the data must be able to trace a cell phone within 100 meters or less. This assists first responders in finding the person in need of help.

To comply with that requirement, cellular phone service carriers opted to integrate the Global Positioning System technology into GPS cell phones.

Not every cell phone is GPS enabled. Typically, it is activated only when dialing 911. This can help steer emergency personnel to the location with a much quicker response time than relying on information provided by the caller.

A person using their cell phone GPS to call for help on the road may not know their current location or how to give directions to the emergency responders. This was a frequent frustration for police and fire departments when cell phone use first began. With cell phones being used virtually anywhere, it was imperative to have a method of locating the scenes of the emergencies. Cell phone GPS provides that solution.

Where is Your Child?

Cell phone GPS tracking can also be used to determine the whereabouts of your children or elderly family members. This can provide peace of mind to parents and other caregivers. GPS Cell phone tracking is being used more frequently by parents who want to keep track of their children. The child's location can be monitored all the time if they keep their GPS cell phone with them.

GPS Cell Phones Bring Up Privacy Concerns

Although there are many benefits to using GPS -enabled cell phones for tracing, there are also privacy issues. Some cell phone users consider tracking their location with cell phone GPS a violation of privacy. And according to federal privacy laws, it is. A person cannot be legally tracked by their GPS cell phone GPS unless they have authorized it.

With GPS systems integrated into most new cell phones, the locator signal is activated when the 911 service is contacted. Prior to GPS technology being included in cell phones, the location of the phone was based on reports from the cell phone tower accessed by the caller that gave the last known position. Because of the wide area covered by cell phone towers, this narrowed the area only slightly. By utilizing cell phone GPS technology, emergency responders a much smaller area to cover when looking for someone in need.