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No? If the device is connected to a cell, they can still triangulate it just like normal.




In an emergency you might really want GPS precision.

Which emergency can happen that I really want this? And now don't say suicide attempt. Nearby all emergencies that could happen where someone needs my exact position are things that would additionally lead to a loss of the base connection or a switched off smart phone.

Car accident? Broken leg while hiking? Mugging? Slip and fall on icy sidewalk?

Cell tower triangulation does not provide the same precision as GPS.

Triangulation does not provide granularity needed for emergency response.

You want EMS looking for a needle in a haystack while you are suffering a heart attack?


Indeed.

How might people suggest that this would work, do you suppose?

"We've narrowed the victim's location down to one city block, boys! Assemble a posse and start knocking on doors: If they don't answer, kick it in!" ?

(And before anyone says "Well, it can work however it used to work!" please remember: Previously, we had landline phones in our homes. When we called 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 for emergency services, there was a database that linked the landline to a street address and [if applicable] unit.

That doesn't work anymore because, broadly-speaking, we now have pocket supercomputers instead of landlines.)


We also had phone books with everyone's name and address listed.

Everyone was effectively doxxed yet it was never a security issue.


Sure. But we usually didn't need it: We kept the phone numbers for our friends, family, and our favorite pizza place memorized.

And if the phone rang, it was answered. It was almost certainly a real person calling; spam calls were infrequent to the point of almost never happening.

It was a different time, and it is lost to us now.

(We do still have public name-to-address databases, though. For instance: In my state of Ohio, that part of a person's voter registration is public information that anybody can access. Everyone is still effectively doxxed and it's still not a security issue.)


Oh right. Forgot registered voter records are public. Similar to your point about phonebooks, I never use them.



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