AML technology: progress in emergency call location via 110
The first federal states are using Advanced Mobile Location for emergency number 110, but some are hesitating due to a lack of legal basis.
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In emergencies, callers who call 112 on their smartphone and request help can be located via AML. After consultation with data protection experts, this location function should also be possible nationwide for the police emergency number 110. A pilot project has now been launched in Baden-WĂĽrttemberg. Since June, the police there have had access to AML data in order to locate emergency calls from people seeking help more quickly and accurately.
"Other state police forces are being connected to AML step by step, which is why more states have been connected in the meantime. The federal states are publicly announcing the use of Advanced Mobile Location (AML) on their own responsibility," said Katharina Lutz-Schädler, spokesperson for the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior, when asked. We asked about the current status of the location of the emergency number 110 in the federal states.
Location determination for emergency response
Up to now, the police have been able to determine the location of a cell phone used to contact 110 via a radio cell query with the respective network operator. However, radio cells can be several kilometers in size, making it impossible to determine the location of the device quickly and accurately. In certain dangerous situations, the police can also use technical means on site to try to determine the location of a person seeking help. To do this, the police use an IMSI catcher, which in principle acts as a mobile base station simulating a radio cell to which the wanted device can connect. The area to be searched can thus be further restricted, but it is not possible to determine the exact location of the wanted device with an IMSI catcher. It takes time for an IMSI catcher to get to the area of operation, time that you may not have in an emergency where life and limb are at stake.
However, if the control center can access AML data in an emergency, the exact location of the mobile device can be determined quickly. This already works in many European countries when calling 112, and in Germany since 2019.
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On the way to "preliminary pilot operation" for AML
At its spring meeting in early 2024, Working Group II "Internal Security" of the Standing Conference of Interior Ministers and Senators of the Federal States had the topic on the agenda and came to the conclusion that AML should be made usable nationwide for the emergency number 110 as quickly as possible. To this end, a legal assessment should first be carried out to examine whether it is necessary to create a legal basis for the collection, storage and transmission or retrieval of AML data to the police.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior explains that the implementation of emergency calls and the associated location of the emergency call is the responsibility of the federal states. Emergency response law and police law are a matter for the federal states, as is the rescue service. And the federal states decide independently on the use of AML. In addition to creating the technical requirements at the control centers, this also includes examining the legal requirements. Specifically, the legal basis for the individual data processing procedures – must be clarified, from the collection and storage of emergency call location data to the forwarding of this data to the relevant emergency call centers.
The Baden-WĂĽrttemberg Police Department's Technology, Logistics and Service Bureau was commissioned to implement the "nationwide implementation of automated mobile phone tracking for the national emergency number 110 in the state police forces". Baden-WĂĽrttemberg is already home to a nationwide AML endpoint for the emergency number 112, which is managed by ILS Freiburg for the emergency services.
The AML endpoint for 110 is operated separately by the Baden-WĂĽrttemberg police at a different location. Baden-WĂĽrttemberg provides the IT infrastructure, the central storage location and a web application for nationwide queries for the AML endpoint. In the event of an emergency call, the AML data is stored in encrypted form for exactly 60 minutes at the central storage location for retrieval by an emergency call answering point. After 60 minutes, the data is automatically and irretrievably deleted.
Section 53 of the Baden-WĂĽrttemberg Police Act permits the collection of telecommunications traffic data and usage data to avert danger "if certain facts justify the assumption that there is a concrete danger to the life, limb or freedom of a person", for example to determine the whereabouts of a "helpless person". The specific danger relates to an individual case. It was legally questionable whether the Baden-WĂĽrttemberg police can centrally store the AML data for all emergency calls received nationwide via 110 in order to then allow the other federal states to access this location data.
Data protection: Strict purpose limitation required for AML
The State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of Baden-WĂĽrttemberg, Prof. Dr. Tobias Keber, "takes a critical view of the application of the existing regulations from the Police Act, but in his statement of 18 March 2024, he approved a pilot operation of the AML service for the period until a final review or the creation of a corresponding legal basis". This is a "provisional nationwide pilot operation", as the Ministry of the Interior announced. AML may only be used "under consideration of the strict purpose limitation of the data to the provision of the necessary assistance", i.e. to avert danger.
The "double-door principle" under data protection law, as established by the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, applies. According to this principle, a separate, sector-specific authorization standard is required both for data transmission from the perspective of the data sender (Baden-WĂĽrttemberg as the operator of the central AML endpoint) and for retrieval from the perspective of the data recipient (the other federal states). For the use of AML data, the police therefore need (state) legal provisions. This should also include agreements with the respective data protection officers in the federal states.
In April 2024, according to dpa, the BW Ministry of the Interior stated that there would be technical difficulties in addition to legal problems and that they were working flat out to implement the pilot operation. When asked, Lutz-Schädler explained that after a test phase in June 2024, the state-wide pilot operation was launched in Baden-Württemberg. This means that all command and situation centers of the Baden-Württemberg police have since been technically able to retrieve AML data. In the meantime, Baden-Württemberg has invited the interior ministries of the other federal states to participate in the AML pilot for the emergency call 110 and the first states have accepted the invitation and have already been connected.
More precise emergency call: expansion of pilot operation
Schleswig-Holstein declared its participation in the pilot to Baden-WĂĽrttemberg on September 18, 2024, according to the Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Housing and Sport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein. The connection has since been made. Since mid-October, all police control centers in the state have had "the option of mobile phone tracking using AML, subject to the legal/data protection requirements".
Hesse has also joined the pilot scheme. AML has been available for the emergency number 110 "since the beginning of October 2024 across the board in the control centers", the deputy press spokesperson from the Hessian Ministry of the Interior, Security and Homeland Security said on request.
The state of Lower Saxony is "in the process of implementing AML for police emergency calls; the start of operations will take place shortly", the press spokesperson for the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport said in response to a query.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, all North Rhine-Westphalian police control centers are to take part in the pilot, says Jonas Tepe, spokesman for police matters for the Ministry of the Interior of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. A connection to the AML endpoint in Baden-WĂĽrttemberg already exists and the pilot is currently being prepared in the control centers.
The Brandenburg police declared their participation in the pilot to Baden-WĂĽrttemberg at the beginning of October 2024, the press spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior The necessary technical requirements have already been created. At the moment, the start of the pilot in Brandenburg still depends "on the final approval under data protection law and the creation of the technical and organizational requirements in the police headquarters".
In Rhineland-Palatinate, "pilot use of AML" by the police should be possible in December 2024, explained the press spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Sport there. The technical preparations have been successfully completed and there is already functional access to the test environment. "In close, consensual coordination with the Rhineland-Palatinate State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, the legal requirements for participation as part of a pilot operation have also been prepared. The data protection concept is currently being finalized."
