Apple Watch's fall alert might undercut some users, Professor Joh tells Ars Technica

The new Apple Watch’s ability to contact emergency services on behalf of wearers who have taken falls might expose people to criminal liability, Professor Elizabeth Joh told Ars Technica.

The Apple Watch Series 4 can contact emergency services if it detects a wearer has taken a hard fall, and - by pinpointing the person’s location via mobile phone data - bring police to the door. The police would not need a warrant to enter, under the “community caretaking” exception to the Fourth Amendment.

This means that if a watch wearer has triggered the alert accidentally, the person might be criminally liable for, say, illegal substances visible in his or her home.

"One of the interesting things here is that, whenever there's a change in the technology, it creates an inadvertent Fourth Amendment question," Joh told Ars Technica. "It's a good example of how design can enhance or detract from privacy in accidental ways. I’m sure there are nothing but very good intentions behind this change in how this Apple Watch is going to work. But there are other considerations as well, because every time there is a change of this sort, there will be accidents, and there will be missteps."

Professor Joh's scholarship focuses on criminal procedure and policing, with a special emphasis on DNA evidence, undercover policing, and new surveillance technologies. She is the recipient of King Hall’s 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award.