5 ms·

Why can't I disable or opt out of this?

by gavreh 8y ago

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
evan_ 8y ago
on 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 ago
You'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 ago
Ridiculous, presidential Spam...
jrockway 8y ago
Probably 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 ago
  So 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?
  - smacktoward 8y ago
    Yes, this is the result of a law, the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act which was passed by Congress back in 2006. See https://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=632941 https://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=632941 for details.
pizzetta 8y ago
Presumably they'd be used for FEMA-type issues; which are generally about imminent hazards.
smacktoward 8y ago
It's supposed to be for extremely serious situations only. If the bombs are going to start falling in five minutes, millions of lives could depend on everybody getting the word as soon as possible. An unskippable alert pushed out to every cellphone in the country is the best way in the modern age to ensure that happens. As long as its use is restricted to only that kind of sky-is-falling situation, I don't have a problem with being unable to opt out. If Trump starts using it to advertise his latest rally, that would be an abuse of the system and pressure to let people opt out would start piling up rapidly.
- waterphone 8y ago
  Considering that it's run by FEMA, and they are mandated by law to only use it in national emergencies, and multiple FEMA officials have to sign off on any message sent out, political misuse of it is fairly unlikely.
waterphone 8y ago
Because the 2006 law authorizing this mandated that Presidential Alerts not be able to be disabled. https://www.congress.gov/109/bills/hr5785/BILLS-109hr5785ih.pdf https://www.congress.gov/109/bills/hr5785/BILLS-109hr5785ih....
ivl 8y ago
With a little effort you can. Some ADB creativity with a restore rom or rooting or magisk. You'll be hunting down settings inside /data/data/com.android.messaging/shared_prefs/com.android.messaging_preferences.xml It may have a different name as phone manufacturers like to play around with what they name it, and each setting may have a different specific name. Each phone may have a different term for it, but you'd be hunting for 'presidential', or something like 'pref_key_cmas*' and setting that to false.

Why can't I disable or opt out of this?

by gavreh 8y ago

Why can't I disable or opt out of this?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

evan_ 8y ago

on 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 ago

You'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 ago

Ridiculous, presidential Spam...

jrockway 8y ago

Probably 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 ago
So 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?
- smacktoward 8y ago
  Yes, this is the result of a law, the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act which was passed by Congress back in 2006. See https://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=632941 https://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=632941 for details.

pizzetta 8y ago

Presumably they'd be used for FEMA-type issues; which are generally about imminent hazards.

smacktoward 8y ago

It's supposed to be for extremely serious situations only. If the bombs are going to start falling in five minutes, millions of lives could depend on everybody getting the word as soon as possible. An unskippable alert pushed out to every cellphone in the country is the best way in the modern age to ensure that happens. As long as its use is restricted to only that kind of sky-is-falling situation, I don't have a problem with being unable to opt out. If Trump starts using it to advertise his latest rally, that would be an abuse of the system and pressure to let people opt out would start piling up rapidly.

waterphone 8y ago
Considering that it's run by FEMA, and they are mandated by law to only use it in national emergencies, and multiple FEMA officials have to sign off on any message sent out, political misuse of it is fairly unlikely.

waterphone 8y ago

Because the 2006 law authorizing this mandated that Presidential Alerts not be able to be disabled. https://www.congress.gov/109/bills/hr5785/BILLS-109hr5785ih.pdf https://www.congress.gov/109/bills/hr5785/BILLS-109hr5785ih....

ivl 8y ago

With a little effort you can. Some ADB creativity with a restore rom or rooting or magisk. You'll be hunting down settings inside /data/data/com.android.messaging/shared_prefs/com.android.messaging_preferences.xml It may have a different name as phone manufacturers like to play around with what they name it, and each setting may have a different specific name. Each phone may have a different term for it, but you'd be hunting for 'presidential', or something like 'pref_key_cmas*' and setting that to false.