Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Phones have and send IMEIs. These include a TAC [1] mapping directly to a phone model. The obvious solution would be to track false (accidental/misdial) calls, and if a phone model exceeds some metric (e.g. 5x the median), start fining/charging the manufacturer.

This would quickly cut down on these issues and if not, could at least provide funding to staff it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Allocation_Code



I mean aren't there a majority who have Samsung and Apple phones so those would be biased to be the top two no matter what?


Well, if the majority of accidental calls originate from the top n (n>0) manufactures it would be the most effective to address them. That's kinda how regulation works in many cases, see, e.g., privacy and safety enforcement in general.


Presumably you'd track the rate of misdialed calls compared to real emergency calls, not the absolute number.


Sounds like a great way to get Apple to fix iOS and Samsung to stop bastardizing Android.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: