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Even if it was not a mistake, why would they send a presedential alert to the entire province just to tell them that people 10km away from the nuclear plant are

Even if it was not a mistake, why would they send a presedential alert to the entire province just to tell them that people 10km away from the nuclear plant are in no danger? Pretty absurd, wish I could fully disable these alerts until the government is actually competently using them.

blondin 7y ago
i am not sure i understand the reactions here... why are people mad? the first message was very reasonable. it even said there is "no danger". to check with media and authorities. the second said the first was human error. if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no, then i would be on my way. instead there is now an investigation, and someone who is already having a very bad day for their mistake is going to get punished even harsher... should we start having trainings about these so people realize the possibility that these will become useful one day instead of getting mad?
- gpm 7y ago
  > if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no They weren't saying "no", they were saying "we have no idea". If everyone called 911, they would be totally swamped, please don't do that.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  > if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no, then i would be on my way. 9-1-1 would've said: "We don't know either. We know as much as you do". Which would only be more concerning.
- rezgi 7y ago
  > call 911 and ask Calls to 911 usually take 2-5 minutes for anyone to answer in Toronto when there is nothing particular going on (not kidding you, there is a message playing in the meantime like "we'll answer soon, please hold") because the govt is so hellbent on cutting costs that the emergency lines are understaffed. So imagine what happens when everyone does that... No operators for 15 minutes for anyone. Ontario really has become a ridiculous place.
Scoundreller 7y ago
> wish I could fully disable these alerts until the government is actually competently using them. They're LTE only, so I've disabled them by disabling LTE and sticking to 3G. The speeds are fast enough (15mbps peaks). And with $10/gig data prices, it's not like I'll ever down/upload large files over wireless. The problem is that I was used to getting a push notification almost immediately from every news source on Amber Alerts, but not this time. I think news orgs didn't know how to handle it. Especially since the public was directed to listen to them, but they had no messaging.
ghaff 7y ago
>wish I could fully disable these alerts Can't you? On my iPhone, I can. I'm not sure I would--although I have one category of alert disabled, but I can.
- GhostVII 7y ago
  On my Android I've turned off everything in the emergency alerts section but they still go through. I think that you aren't able to disable presidential alerts on Android, which happens to be the only alert level Ontario uses.
  - shpx 7y ago
    Looking at the Android source code, it looks like you're right: > Presidential alert is default on and cannot be turned off. https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/apps/CellBroadcastReceiver/+/70b77474601a12e44692ef0af246027f84b8d08c:res/values/overlayable.xml;l=42 https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/a... > CMAS Presidential must be always on (See 3GPP TS 22.268 Section 6.2) regardless [of the] user's preference https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/apps/CellBroadcastReceiver/+/70b77474601a12e44692ef0af246027f84b8d08c:src/com/android/cellbroadcastreceiver/CellBroadcastConfigService.java;l=118 https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/a... > A CMAS-capable User Interface (UI) shall support the ability for the user to opt-out of only the Imminent Threat and Child Abduction Emergency Warning Notifications. When a Presidential Warning Notification is received, it is always presented to the user whenever Cell Broadcast Service via GSM/UMTS or warning message delivery via E-UTRAN is enabled on the UE. https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/122200_122299/122268/10.02.00_60/ts_122268v100200p.pdf https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/122200_122299/122268/10... Seems like no one working in the Canadian government has heard about The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    That may be true on the iPhone in the US as well. Apple support doesn't say anything about it AFAIK but I did find an article suggesting you can't turn Presidential alerts off. (Though I don't think I've ever seen one.)

blondin 7y ago

i am not sure i understand the reactions here... why are people mad? the first message was very reasonable. it even said there is "no danger". to check with media and authorities. the second said the first was human error. if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no, then i would be on my way. instead there is now an investigation, and someone who is already having a very bad day for their mistake is going to get punished even harsher... should we start having trainings about these so people realize the possibility that these will become useful one day instead of getting mad?

gpm 7y ago
> if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no They weren't saying "no", they were saying "we have no idea". If everyone called 911, they would be totally swamped, please don't do that.
Scoundreller 7y ago
> if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no, then i would be on my way. 9-1-1 would've said: "We don't know either. We know as much as you do". Which would only be more concerning.
rezgi 7y ago
> call 911 and ask Calls to 911 usually take 2-5 minutes for anyone to answer in Toronto when there is nothing particular going on (not kidding you, there is a message playing in the meantime like "we'll answer soon, please hold") because the govt is so hellbent on cutting costs that the emergency lines are understaffed. So imagine what happens when everyone does that... No operators for 15 minutes for anyone. Ontario really has become a ridiculous place.

Scoundreller 7y ago

> wish I could fully disable these alerts until the government is actually competently using them. They're LTE only, so I've disabled them by disabling LTE and sticking to 3G. The speeds are fast enough (15mbps peaks). And with $10/gig data prices, it's not like I'll ever down/upload large files over wireless. The problem is that I was used to getting a push notification almost immediately from every news source on Amber Alerts, but not this time. I think news orgs didn't know how to handle it. Especially since the public was directed to listen to them, but they had no messaging.

ghaff 7y ago

>wish I could fully disable these alerts Can't you? On my iPhone, I can. I'm not sure I would--although I have one category of alert disabled, but I can.

GhostVII 7y ago
On my Android I've turned off everything in the emergency alerts section but they still go through. I think that you aren't able to disable presidential alerts on Android, which happens to be the only alert level Ontario uses.
- shpx 7y ago
  Looking at the Android source code, it looks like you're right: > Presidential alert is default on and cannot be turned off. https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/apps/CellBroadcastReceiver/+/70b77474601a12e44692ef0af246027f84b8d08c:res/values/overlayable.xml;l=42 https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/a... > CMAS Presidential must be always on (See 3GPP TS 22.268 Section 6.2) regardless [of the] user's preference https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/apps/CellBroadcastReceiver/+/70b77474601a12e44692ef0af246027f84b8d08c:src/com/android/cellbroadcastreceiver/CellBroadcastConfigService.java;l=118 https://cs.android.com/android/_/android/platform/packages/a... > A CMAS-capable User Interface (UI) shall support the ability for the user to opt-out of only the Imminent Threat and Child Abduction Emergency Warning Notifications. When a Presidential Warning Notification is received, it is always presented to the user whenever Cell Broadcast Service via GSM/UMTS or warning message delivery via E-UTRAN is enabled on the UE. https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/122200_122299/122268/10.02.00_60/ts_122268v100200p.pdf https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/122200_122299/122268/10... Seems like no one working in the Canadian government has heard about The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
- ghaff 7y ago
  That may be true on the iPhone in the US as well. Apple support doesn't say anything about it AFAIK but I did find an article suggesting you can't turn Presidential alerts off. (Though I don't think I've ever seen one.)