Police warn about dangerous emergency setting on Android phones

A potentially dangerous setting on Android phones means that emergency phone lines are being pocket dialled, a Metropolitan Police officer has warned.

Android devices have a setting called ‘Emergency SOS’ that is intended to make it easier for people to call for help. If a person presses the power button fives times or more, it starts a series of emergency actions like calling for help.

Users can choose what that setting does. But by default the phone calls the police number, so that they will be alerted to any issue.

The ease with which the setting can be activated means that 999 lines in the UK are getting called by accident, according Met Police chief superintendent Dan Ivey. The button is being pressed while people’s phones are in their pockets, further filling up already stretched emergency call handlers.

He asked that people disable the feature to help reduce demand. He described the setting as a “problem”, though some users may opt to keep it active if they feel that it is likely to be used in an emergency.

Mr Ivey said that on Saturday the Met Police had received an “unprecedented” 9,500 calls through 999, and 3,000 on non-emergency lines. Only 20 per cent of them had required police to be sent in emergency response mode, he said.

“There is a problem with SOS auto mode on Android devices, so we are asking for your help,” Mr Ivey said, describing the issue. He asked that people turn off the feature by going to settings and then choosing “Emergency SOS”, where the feature can be turned off or changed so that it does not ring 999.

He asked people to ensure they only call 999 when they need police urgently, on blue lights, in situations where there is a danger to life, someone is using or there is immediate threat of serious violence, or there is serious injury to a person or serious damage to a property.

Mr Ivey was responding a to post from the London Ambulance Service in which it said it was also receiving historic numbers of calls. It said that on Monday it had received 7,751 999 calls, the highest since New Year’s Eve 2021, and also asked people to keep 999 for life-threatening emergencies only.

The iPhone also has its own Emergency SOS feature, though its design may mean that it is less likely to be triggered by accident. On newer phones it is activated by pressing a volume and power button, and on older ones it is used by pressing the power button fives times; in both cases, however, it also requires users to then push across a slider that will actually activate the emergency call.