FCC looks at routing US 911 calls through Russian satellites

[Wilikon]

Here’s a disturbing idea whose time is about to come:

Emergency first responders across the United States may soon be relying on Russian satellites to plot the location of the mobile American distress call.

This is not an Onion story.

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to deliberate next week on a plan to use Russian satellites over other competing satellite systems for tracking the exact location of U.S. emergency 911 calls from mobile phones, the source of most emergency calls.

The plan is backed by major U.S. telecommunications giants like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA, along with the Association of Public Safety Communications.


http://news.investors.com/politics-andrew-malcolm/012315-735953-fcc-plan-to-route-911-calls-through-russian-satellites.htm




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That is the same group of people deciding, in secret, what the net neutrality laws will be...

[KonstantinosM]

The 911 system is full of backups.

With SpaceX we won't be relying on Russian satellites for long, I don't see why people are considering it. Especially on Russia's unreliability and past record of aggression.

[panju1]

The 911 system is full of backups.

With SpaceX we won't be relying on Russian satellites for long, I don't see why people are considering it. Especially on Russia's unreliability and past record of aggression.

It is not just about reliability.
It is about information security and privacy as well.

[Wilikon]

The 911 system is full of backups.

With SpaceX we won't be relying on Russian satellites for long, I don't see why people are considering it. Especially on Russia's unreliability and past record of aggression.

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to deliberate next week

It's already cooked. Ready to be served.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Guess Russia is still on good enough terms with the USA to be a backup for the 911 system
Kind of neat in it's own way.

[Wilikon]

Guess Russia is still on good enough terms with the USA to be a backup for the 911 system
Kind of neat in it's own way.

Sure... 

[grendel25]

Guess Russia is still on good enough terms with the USA to be a backup for the 911 system
Kind of neat in it's own way.

Sure... 

I think Putin has actually killed people with that wink.  I don't doubt the person in that photo had an instant massive brain aneurysm from that laser beam wink.

[MrTeal]

Where's the evidence they're going to actually route 911 calls through Russian satellites? They are looking at using GLONASS for positional accuracy, it's not like the Russians could disable 911 even if they go ahead with this.

[Possum577]

Why is it a disturbing idea?