Minn. AG Urges Google to Fix Emergency SOS Glitch
Minnesota is experiencing a surge of inadvertent 911 calls due to an update to Google’s Android mobile operating system, Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) said Thursday. The AG sent mail to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai about the problem, which permits…
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Android’s emergency SOS feature to call 911 after five consecutive taps to the power button and gives the user a few seconds to cancel. The surge in calls is overwhelming 911 call centers and local law enforcement, said Ellison, urging Google to quickly resolve the problem. Minneapolis is receiving thousands more inadvertent calls each month, the AG said. “This problem has caused a tremendous drain on resources and the problem is only compounded by the increase in emergency calls during the summer months,” he said: “This is unacceptable.” Public reports say Google knows about the issue and is working on a fix, but the company hasn’t provided enough details, “including what the software fix entails, when it will be released or completed, and whether it will be tested with 911 centers before implementation,” said Ellison. Google didn’t comment Thursday.