14 DAY TRIAL // One of the top features coming to the Apple Watch Series 4 is Fall Detection, which although may be a life-saving tool, isn’t exactly flawless.
While recent tests have shown that the new Watch doesn’t always detect a fall, there’s a new controversy on the WWW over how the device can alert 911 automatically in case of an emergency.
First, this is how Fall Detection works. When the device detects that you’ve fallen down, it displays an alert on the screen along with a short vibration. “It looks like you’ve taken a hard fall,” the notification reads.
Users are allowed to choose from a couple of options, like I didn’t fall or I fell but I’m OK, otherwise, the Apple Watch can start a call to 911 automatically in 1 minute.
This automatic dial to emergency services is what’s making some people concerned over a 4th Amendment scenario. Elizabeth Joh, law professor at the University of California at Davis, says on Twitter:
“Consider: your watch (accidentally) alerts the police to check on you: 4th Amend. community caretaking exception means they can enter your home w/o a warrant. Plain view means they may seize contraband/evidence of a crime. Nice work, guys.”
No need for warrants
Joh explains that under the 4th Amendment, police officers coming to your house are allowed to seize any evidence that may be related to a different case without a warrant, all because the Apple Watch made a call to 911. More worrying is that some calls could be started by accident, and by the looks of things, Apple hasn’t yet included an option to avoid dialing 911.
There are many things, however, that must be considered in such a case. For instance, there’s the legal factor, as evidence of a crime or anything related to a crime shouldn’t be hidden from the police in the first place, and as some people said in replies to the tweet linked above, those who have nothing to hide shouldn’t by any means be impacted by this Watch behavior.
But considering Apple’s privacy approach, there’s a chance that Cupertino may reconsider letting the Watch call 911 on its own. For the time being, the company has remained tightlipped on this, but further details could be provided soon when watchOS updates begin rolling out.