Police have used a world-first tool twice this week to find people reported missing by tracking the location information on their phones.
The new technology, the Device Location Information (DLI) service, can be used by emergency services to locate the mobile phone of a person who has not called 111 themselves but for whom there are fears for their health or safety.
The technology, launched last week, made it faster for police to narrow the search area for people who were unable or unwilling to say where they were, in circumstances where it was necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life or health of the person concerned or another individual.
The DLI capability was announced by Minister of Police Mark Mitchell last Friday.
Police Northern Emergency Communications and Dispatch Centre manager, Inspector Dan Weir, said police received a report of a person with an intellectual disability missing from their home in Matamata on Thursday night.
“The person hadn’t been seen for 30 minutes and had left their Wandatrak at home; it was raining and the person’s family were becoming increasingly worried.”
Weir said the decision was made to allow the DLI service to be used, sending officers to the person’s location at a nearby park.
“The person was returned home 37 minutes after being reported missing, which is an incredible result.
“When every second counts, this service is yet another tool to help our teams get people the help they need to keep them safe.
“One of the most stressful parts of our job is trying to find out where people are when they’re distressed and in need of help but can’t tell us or don’t know where they are, or equally if someone is reporting a loved one missing and doesn’t know where they could be.”
The DLI service delivers an improvement on the previous capability, which meant manual requests had to be made to mobile network operators to try to locate a device.
“Earlier in the week the service was used to assist in locating a person whose family had immediate concerns for their welfare.
“The person was found after being involved in a single-vehicle crash in Piha, thankfully uninjured, and was able to get the help they needed.
“Time can often be the difference between life and death and we’re thrilled to have access to this service.”
Last week Hato Hone St John chief executive Peter Bradley welcomed the new emergency services resource.
“This is a vital tool that will help emergency services respond faster when every second counts,” Bradley said.
“The ability to quickly locate a person whose life or health is at serious risk but unable to call for help can mean the difference between life and death.
“Crucially, this new capability highlights the value of collaboration between emergency service agencies.
“By working together and leveraging shared technology, we can deliver a faster, more accurate medical response to people when they need it, wherever they may be.”
Source: RNZ, 29 Aug, 2025 06:30 PM
Irrespective of the name of the method/'tool' used, ever since smartphones had GPS chips installed, this (location) information has been available to the authorities, without any warrants used.
See Edward Snowden's leaks for further clarification.
Also one of the most important aspects of cellular networks is that they use inherently insecure protocols and have many trusted parties.
Even with the very public murder of Irish woman Gillian (Jill) Meagher from Brunswick Victoria in 2012, Victoria Police did not want to disclose publicly how they used mobile phone generated data to put the accused murder (Adrian Ernest Bayley) at the relevant locations.