By Police1 Staff
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple filed a patent for a discreet way to call 911 with the use of fingerprint technology.
USA Today reported that Apple’s patent says dialing 911 can be “readily apparent to someone watching” and “may not be practical.”
If the new technology is implemented, it would contact emergency services by utilizing fingerprints or predetermined touch sequences.
An example of the technology use would be using an index finger to unlock your phone instead of your regularly-used thumbprint. If the user was in distress, the index fingerprint would alert 911 without anything showing up on the phone’s screen.
A sequence of touches would also be able to alert 911. Pinching or pressing down hard on the screen for a certain amount of time could be preset as an alert.
The patent says that when alerted with the technology, responders would receive the phone’s location as well as livestream video or audio.