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Presidential Alerts
- mrguyorama 8y agoOh boy I'm so excited to get push notifications directly from Trump himself
- castis 8y agoI know everyone is excited to jump on the bandwagon but can we stop this please. edit: my bad, everyone aboard the shitpost train I guess.
- corpMaverick 8y agoThe new presidential tweeter.
- mrguyorama 8y agoIf anyone would like to describe what they objected to in my statement, I'd love to have the feedback
- stephengillie 8y agoThe alert didn't shut off until you pressed the button. Many devices were making noise for minutes around me. How many car crashes were caused by people startled by the sudden, continuous alert?
- wlesieutre 8y agoReally? It sounded like all of the phones in my office alerted once and then stopped (though not all simultaneously, some took longer to receive it). What kind of phones are people using? My ringer was off so I can't say personally.
- stephengillie 8y agoI was at a car dealership. I didn't take a poll of devices used by employees and other customers.
- gavreh 8y agoWhy can't I disable or opt out of this?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- evan_ 8y agoon the iPhone there's a setting for "Emergency Alerts" at the bottom of Settings -> Notifications. edit: apparently "Presidential" alerts will override this setting, so I guess you can't disable it after all.
- gavreh 8y ago>apparently "Presidential" alerts will override this setting, so I guess you can't disable it after all That is my point. Not sure why I'm getting downvoted.
- antsar 8y agoYou're not the only one wondering this, and there's a related lawsuit (on first amendment grounds). https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/01/trump-presidential-alerts-to-phones-857287 https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/01/trump-presidential...
- DavideNL 8y agoRidiculous, presidential Spam...
- jrockway 8y agoProbably because Google and Apple make essentially every phone in use and they agreed to ignore your settings in favor of the President's. I guess the benefit of not having control is that you can't be accused of being a jerk for having it go off during a movie or in court or whatever, since you have no choice.
- gavreh 8y agoSo this is just something Apple/Google agreed on? Or is this some US law that requires Apple/Google to ship devices without an option to turn this off?
- IronWolve 8y agoThis has nothing to do with POTUS Trump, its been out for years, even under Obama. You can disable all alerts EXCEPT the Presidential alerts, due to extreme emergencies which its used for. And I don't think its ever been used. But as alerts go, I had to shut off the Amber alerts, the local Seattle and King county was spamming my phone and even getting amber alerts for other counties hundreds of miles away. I carry 2 phones, work and private, double annoying on these alerts.
- amysox 8y ago"Presidential Alerts" don't actually originate from the President. They come from FEMA, which selects one of several pre-written messages that fits the current situation, customizes the text as necessary, and sends it out to the phone carriers. One FEMA official has to actually write the message, and then two others have to sign off on the wording before it can go out. So, no, you're not going to be getting mandatory Trump tweets on your phone.
- zrail 8y ago"So, no, you're not going to be getting mandatory Trump tweets on your phone." I think you seriously underestimate how much of the government is run by convention, "norms", and regulations that are easy to change.
- Millennium 8y agoOnly one person at my office even got the alert. I'm going to have to call this test of the system a failure. Dammit, and I'd even queued up Orff's "O Fortuna" to go with the rising crescendo of Emergency Alert System tones.
- umvi 8y ago> Only one person at my office even got the alert. I'm going to have to call this test of the system a failure. At my office, I heard a propagation of what I thought were amber alerts rippling up the hallway, and sure enough, my phone got it too, except it wasn't an amber alert.
- cassandrajam 8y agoJust received one. It shows up as one of those "emergency notifications" you usually receive when a flood is happening nearby, except here it's titled "Presidential Alert".
- protomyth 8y agoIt was a bit odd to have every cellphone in a hallway go off with the same tone. I guess some folks weren't watching the news and didn't get word before hand.
- valbaca 8y ago> I guess some folks weren't watching the news and didn't get word before hand. How would have knowing about it changed anything if you can't opt out?
- protomyth 8y agoWell, they probably wouldn't have that TV disaster momentary panic. It is really not normal to have a bunch of devices go off at once.
- mikestew 8y agoI guess some folks weren't watching the news Some folks tend to do that at work, yes.
- protomyth 8y agoYou know darn well I mean heard about it ahead of time.
- mikestew 8y agoThis native English speaker honestly parsed it twice, and that's what I came up with. I don't watch TV news, though, so it didn't occur to me until now that people get and watch TV before work. I just go to work. <shrug>
- protomyth 8y agoI guess I expected them to have encountered it on whatever news source they use before the date since it was announced multiple times. I guess some folks weren't watching the news and didn't get word before hand.
- confounded 8y agoAnyone know anything about the underlying tech? Is it related to E911, e.g. any privacy implications?
- jpindar 8y agohttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/09/19/confused-about-those-emergency-cellphone-alerts-heres-how-they-work/?utm_term=.d9a5f5e389b7 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/09/19...
- noncoml 8y ago.
- unstuckdev 8y agoThe TV (even streamed) was 5 minutes late due to the standard delay.
- daeken 8y agoThe moment I saw this pop up on my screen, all I could think of was the destruction one could cause via fake alerts. For instance, a warning of incoming nuclear warheads like what happened in Hawaii a few months ago. Sure, news stations might rapidly debunk it, but how many people wouldn't see it? Cell towers would be overloaded with calls and data, preventing the dissemination of info to many. Radio would be the best bet, but how many people would go out to their car (likely the only place they have a radio) when they think an attack may be imminent? A centralized system like this seems like an extremely dangerous thing to have.
- thrill 8y agoAs opposed to the destruction that will certainly be higher without any sort of warning of an actual national emergency?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- amysox 8y agoFEMA has established that two officials have to sign off on the alert text before it goes out. This is to avoid the situation we got in Hawaii.
- drivingmenuts 8y agoPolitical appointees or non-political employees?
- cirgue 8y agoOnly about half my office got one. Anyone know what that's about?
- euroclydon 8y agoI can't think of an important message that could go over this channel that would not cause more panic than if it were not sent. Unless it's some good thing, like "we landed on the moon" or "victory in Europe" If it's about a natural disaster or threat that affects the whole country, forget about it...
- gumby 8y agoThose would be worse as they are not even actionable alerts! True spam.
- chrissnell 8y agoI accidentally swiped it on the iPhone lock screen and now it's gone. I don't see it in my notifications. Is there a way to find it?
- Rebelgecko 8y agoDunno if it's the same on an iPhone, but on Android it shows up in my texting app
- antsar 8y agoYou didn't miss much; here's a screenshot: https://screenshotscdn.firefoxusercontent.com/images/df2d9e6f-0d26-4c59-9bcd-c6d0f724cb9b.png https://screenshotscdn.firefoxusercontent.com/images/df2d9e6...
- mortenjorck 8y agoI still don’t understand the actual point of this, beyond the optics of a vaguely-defined “emergency preparedness.” Emergencies are inherently local. Even if smartphones had been widespread in 2001 and the presidential alert system had been active on 9/11, what purpose would a nationwide alert have served?
- smacktoward 8y agoIt's not hard to imagine much bigger emergencies than 9/11.
- poulsbohemian 8y ago>I still don’t understand the actual point of this, beyond the optics There’s your answer.
- unstuckdev 8y agoIf the Yellowstone Caldera blows up or an asteroid hits, I want to know rather than wonder what happened and what I need to do. A system like this only needs to work once for it to pay off.
- vidanay 8y agoI don't think a little cell phone tone and alert is going to help much for a TEOTWAWKI event.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- bliblah 8y agoThe most obvious example is the Hawaii Nuclear Scare that just happened in January [1]. Obviously it was a false alarm but I would like (or should I say dread) to be alerted of a crisis of that magnitude the moment it occurs. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Hawaii_false_missile_alert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Hawaii_false_missile_aler...
- theshadowknows 8y agoSo what system allows them to jack into every mobile network in the country at once? Or do I just have an extremely poor understanding of how these things work?
- waterphone 8y agoThe Wireless Emergency Alerts system, authorized in the 2006 Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act. https://www.congress.gov/109/bills/hr5785/BILLS-109hr5785ih.pdf https://www.congress.gov/109/bills/hr5785/BILLS-109hr5785ih.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Emergency_Alerts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Emergency_Alerts
- Buttons840 8y ago"Presidential Alerts" is a terrible name in a time where presidents from either party tend to have about 40% approval or less. The name just automatically angers a significant portion of the population, no matter who the president happens to be. Considering that the presidency is a political position, it's not unreasonable to expect "Presidential Alerts" to be of a political nature, even though that is not how the system is intended to be used. How about "National Alert System" or just continue calling it the "Emergency Alert System" (except now with new abilities). Put a procedure in place to let the president use it if needed.
- noncoml 8y ago.
- ocdtrekkie 8y agoUsed correctly, these should be so infrequent that there's no legitimate reason to disable them. This is a broadcast, not a data collection, and if a missile is headed in your general area, literally every capable device should be telling you about it.
- newnewpdro 8y agoWhy are these labeled as "Presidential"? The combination of being impossible to configure as filtered and naming leaves me with the distinct taste of living under an aspiring dictatorship in my mouth.
- crispyambulance 8y agoA bunch of us just got one. SERIOUSLY? Does it _HAVE_ _TO_ say "presidential alert"? Do I have to be reminded of "him" during a time of potential crisis? What could "Cheeto-Satan" have to say in a real emergency that is of any value whatsoever?
- heedlessly3 8y agoThis type of alert as existed before Trump became president. Trump did not administer this alert. Now you just look silly.
- crispyambulance 8y agoDoesn't matter. The fact that it was titled "Presidential Alert" is what I am reacting to. It just doesn't sit well with me that "if this had been an actual emergency", covfefe.
- lisper 8y agoHoo boy, I would love to see the raw upvote/downvote tally on that comment.
- Duladian 8y ago>I would love to see the raw upvote/downvote tally on that comment. Instances like this, makes me wish more/all companies had transparency to be able to view their data.
- crispyambulance 8y agoSorry, it was a visceral response. That kind of alert brings up, for an instant, a feeling that something awful is happening. And if something really bad was going down, the last thing I would want to hear is dithering idiocy of President Trump.
- krapp 8y agoWell, maybe in the future Americans will consider some quality besides entertainment value when selecting their leader. But that would require Americans to see their government as something worthwhile, and the Presidency as a duty for which competence is a virtue and not a vice. But in practice Trump wouldn't be directly involved at all, don't worry about it.
- tlb 8y agoMy iPhone X with iOS 12 made the siren noise, but no message appeared on the screen and I can't find any alert message in the notifications page, messages, or elsewhere. So I only got 1 bit of information :-(.
- Duladian 8y agoOne of my coworkers was on their cellphone during the alert period. They did not hear nor see any indication on their phone. iPhone X with iOS 12.
- sli 8y agoMine with 11.4.1 received no alert and made no sound.
- tlrobinson 8y ago> So I only got 1 bit of information Be careful. That's basically how the family in the movie "Blast from the Past" ended up locked in their bunker for a few decades.
- kibwen 8y agoNot sure why these need to be billed as "Presidential alerts" if they're for national emergencies, which is already the domain of FEMA. Call them "National emergency alerts". Presidential addresses (which the name suggests these are in the age of cord-cutters and smartphones) are for sympathy and calls for unity in the aftermath of disaster; if there's a hurricane or tornado bearing down on me, all I want is info straight from FEMA or the National Weather Service without having to be routed through the president first. Not to mention that referring to the president in any capacity is a great way to get half the country to dismiss a notification without reading it.
- throwaway5250 8y agoCould it be because the message is literally from the President, in their ex officio role as the President?
- robszumski 8y agoCurrently reading this book about continuity of government [1] and many Presidents have done the full exercise, including activating the older emergency alert systems in over the air TV. Other parts of these exercises include the emergency evac from White House to bunker or flying command post, testing comms with subs and other command authorities, and walking through response plan selection, and last, the process of launching the weapons. I don't believe it ever worked fully, and I hope that this test was part of one of these exercises. The book makes it clear that these plans are only updated every 10-15 years and almost never tested end to end, especially now that the cold war is over. 1: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010MHAG72/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010MHAG72/
- gumby 8y agoRegardless of what it's called (let's say, "nationwide alert") is it possible to imagine anything that is 1> immediately actionable and 2> must be known by every person in the country? I cannot think of a single thing. Even "nukes incoming" -- well what precisely should you do in this situation? If it's not actionable, no matter how important, it's not urgent. I had to switch off the FEMA alerts -- which are a good idea! -- because I was getting spammed by spurious alerts about things hundreds of miles away (I re-enable them when I travel and when I am near my vacation house which is in a fire zone). An earthquake down south or a fire 8 hours' drive north do not require my immediate attention.
- PhantomGremlin 8y ago"nukes incoming" People who live in big cities or live near high value strategic targets wouldn't survive for long anyway. Maybe some of those people wouldn't want to know that they will be dead in 5 minutes or in 5 days. Nevertheless, I expect that many if not most people would still want to know! There are also literally millions of people in the USA who live in remote areas and who would survive the blast and radiation effects of a nuclear war. Giving those people some warning could make a big difference in their survival rates. Those people probably wouldn't enjoy living in the dystopian post-nuclear landscape, but that's a topic that's been amply covered by Sci-Fi movies. I had to switch off the FEMA alerts What is a FEMA alert? Is that something regional or something on Android? My iPhone running iOS 11.4.1 has two different "GOVERNMENT ALERTS" (found under Notifications). These are AMBER Alerts and Emergency Alerts. I have them both enabled and I don't think I get even one per year.
- gumby 8y agoThe regular FEMA alerts are things like wildfire or tornado alerts, or what to do after an incident (e.g. post earthquake). Excellent if you don’t spam people.
- eclectic 8y agoAlien invasion
- jobigoud 8y agoSo as a test of the system how did it fare? How do they measure success or failure of the test? What percentage of devices were actually reached?