Google Rolls Out Emergency Location Service on Android in India

Google has activated Emergency Location Service (ELS) on Android devices across India to improve emergency response accuracy on Tuesday.

Uttar Pradesh is the first state to fully integrate ELS with its 112 emergency services system.

ELS is an inbuilt feature which automatically shares a caller’s precise location with emergency responders when a 112 call or SMS is made.

The system uses GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile network signals, offering location accuracy of up to 50 metres. The feature is especially useful when calls drop quickly, as responders can still access the caller’s location.

Google said ELS has strong privacy safeguards: it activates only during emergencies, is free to use, and does not store location data on Google’s servers.

During pilot testing in Uttar Pradesh, the company said, “ELS in Android had supported over 20 million calls and SMS messages, identifying caller locations, even when calls dropped seconds after connecting.”