What is eCall?

eCall is an in-vehicle system that automatically alerts emergency services in case of a road accident and will also inform the rescue workers about the crash site's exact location. This 112 emergency call can be either generated by the vehicle occupant manually or by in-vehicle sensors automatically, which get activated at the time of the crash.

The eCall device can transmit voice and data directly to the nearest emergency services. The voice call allows vehicle occupants to communicate directly with the trained eCall operator. At the same time, a minimum set of data is also sent to the eCall operator receiving the voice call. The minimum set of data contains information about the incident including time, precise location, vehicle identification, eCall status (as a minimum, indication if eCall has been manually or automatically triggered) and information about a possible service provider (CEC, 2005). eCall only transmits data that is absolutely necessary when an accident occurs. Information only leaves the car in the event of a severe accident and is not stored any longer than necessary.

eCall is a European Union initiative, which aims to reduce economic losses caused by road accidents. It came into effect from April 1, 2018, and requires all new car and light van type vehicles sold in the EU to be fitted with the emergency eCall systems. This system reduces emergency response time and thus helps in saving lives by ensuring that help arrives more quickly. The service makes use of available mobile networks (GSM/CDMA) for making a ‘112 Emergency Call’. But when there is absolutely no network coverage then this call can’t be placed. According to some estimates, eCall could reduce emergency response times by 40 percent in urban areas and 50 percent in rural areas.

Cars equipped with eCall, take advantage of the precise positioning offered by GNSS (Including EGNOS and Galileo) to quickly alert emergency services in the event of a road accident, use the same location source as for their in-vehicle navigation systems.

Privacy Concerns in eCall

There were some privacy concers around eCall, where it was thought that all cars in the EU with this technology could be tracked at all times. However, this is not true, as an eCall system is only activated if the vehicle is involved in a serious accident. The rest of the time, the system remains inactive, meaning that when a person is simply driving the vehicle, no tracking (registering of car’s position or monitoring of driving) or transmission of data takes place. When a call is made through the eCall system, the personal data is processed according to EU data protection rules, i.e. emergency services receive only limited data they need to deal with the accident situation. Also, the data is not stored for any longer than necessary and is removed when no longer required.

Click here to read the EU data protection and privacy rules.