Apple patents new emergency iPhone feature

Iphone 5C.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

With a quick finger scan, Apple wants its users to be able to alert emergency services.

In a patent filed Tuesday with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Apple describes a new feature which would allow users to call police with the scan of a fingerprint. The new feature would bypass login screens and passwords to send authorities the phone's location. It would also allow for live audio or video to be streamed from the phone to the dispatcher and for personal information stored on the device, like social security numbers or home addresses, to be deleted.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Elianna Spitzer

Elianna Spitzer is a rising junior at Brandeis University, majoring in Politics and American Studies. She is also a news editor and writer at The Brandeis Hoot. When she is not covering campus news, Elianna can be found arguing legal cases with her mock trial team.q