Google Pixel phone’s Emergency SOS sent a person’s nudes to friends

Google Pixel phones come with an emergency SOS feature that calls for emergency response services and shares the alert with friends or family members. The system also includes an optional video feature that records your surroundings and shares the clip with all your emergency contacts.

If you have enabled this feature—hopefully after reading Google’s warning about doing so “carefully” on your phone—pray that it never gets triggered accidentally. One unfortunate individual learned this the hard way when the feature was mistakenly activated, sending their naked whereabouts to a dozen friends.

The amusing incident was shared on Reddit, with the victim even posting picture evidence and the video recording broadcasted by their Pixel phone, showing them in their birthday suit.

“The phone starts ringing and texts start coming in. Friends are concerned… but not so much about my safety but rather that MY PIXEL SENT EVERYBODY PHOTO/VIDEO OF ME NAKED,” says the post.

Apparently, the emergency SOS feature was activated when the user tried to silence their early morning alarm but pressed the power button repeatedly. On Pixel phones, pressing the power button five times or more in a row activates the emergency feature.

Once triggered, an automatic countdown starts to call 911 emergency services. Additionally, if you have enabled emergency sharing, a notification is sent to all the contacts you have set up for reaching out in such situations.

Notably, in the Personal Safety app on Pixel phones, there is an option for video sharing. This feature records a video while you are talking to emergency responders and sharing your location, or even when you’re using another app.

These emergency recordings can be up to 45 minutes in length, and once uploaded, a download link is shared with all emergency contacts. You can choose to disable the link at any given time, and if it is being shared excessively (over 120 visits, per Google), the link automatically expires by protocol.

Emergency video sharing only works when you have set up Emergency Contacts and enabled it from within the Personal Safety app. It is a lifesaver, especially for people who live with medical conditions, travel frequently, or in other scenarios where they might need to share details of their surroundings to get help.

In this case, it worked in a rather NSFW fashion. “My embarrassment gave everyone a jolly start to their day or a fun 1am booty call, depending on the time zone,” adds the Reddit post, which attracted a few similar anecdotes in the comments section.

Apparently, emergency alerts have caught more than a few people off guard in rather intimate situations.

“My ex did it when this SOS feature came out years ago. For whatever reason, she decided to test it while using the bathroom and ended up sending me some awkward photos from both cams. Luckily, she’d only added me as an emergency contact, and we had a good laugh about it,” wrote another Reddit user.

“You are not alone. My friend did this too! Her husband and I received a nude photo of her,” claimed a similar comment in the same chain. However, accidentally calling emergency helpline numbers seems to be a recurring theme in the Apple ecosystem, covering the iPhone as well as the Apple Watch.

In one case, an Apple Watch triggered an emergency alert during an intimate moment between two people. One user shared how their dog, while playing with their hand, triggered the 911 call via the Apple Watch on their wrist.

An Apple Watch user claims to have unknowingly called for emergency assistance 43 times. Emergency responders have been aware of this issue for years, and they recommend picking up the call and informing them it was an accident instead of disconnecting the calls to check up on the caller’s well-being.