Your iPhone Fingerprint Sensor Could Save Your Life In The Future

Apple may be working on a new way to use its Touch ID technology to make contacting emergency services faster and easier. A newly published patent file under Apple shows a method for using a biometric sensor similar to the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 6 and up's home button to discreetly trigger an emergency call. 

Originally filed in March 2013, the patent describes using a system that can recognize the frequency, force, and even specific fingerprint used on the sensor to execute particular commands. The patent's summary also describes how this system could be used to quickly activate a 'panic alarm,' which could send a GPS signal to local emergency responders, wipe local data during a theft, or even activate a live video/audio stream to record an incident.