My phone is permanently set to silent except for an alarm to wake me up in the morning as I don't like being disturbed so I've turned emergency alerts off as I don't want to be woken from my Sunday snooze.
I had a panicky message from my uncle when this was announced, he genuinely thinks that his phone will turn into a mind controlling tracking device
He’ll shit himself when he finds out it’s already active.
He'll have kittens if you tell him how facebook really works 😀
Not sure if it was a pilot for the same system or if a seperate ones been active for ages but it's been tested in Reading/Barkshire already a few years ago.
No one died, crashed, etc etc*. You can untwist your knickers.
*Well obviously that's what THEY want you to think.
Well that explains the strange thing that popped up on my phone first thing this morning saying I had dialed an emergency number and it was now unblocking blocked numbers. I thought it was some sort of scam to let the spam numbers get back through. I re ticked the ignore emergency radio button
I don’t understand how this is supposed to work. It doesn’t require an app, but has the ability to override your phone’s volume settings and can lock you out until you’ve acknowledged it? Sure, that’s totally not disturbing at all.
I don't know for sure but assume that it's just a pop-up notification that you have to clear by clicking a cancel or ok button, like lots of other pop-up notifications.
My initial thought when I read this on the BBC news was the real motivation for this is because of the threat from Putin and his big red button, sold to us under the guise of wet and windy weather.
Maybe in the event of ballistic missile launches it might be a source of impending doom
I hope not, they'll stop the trains. Wrong sort of nuclear fallout on the tracks or some such thing.
I’ve had this alert while in Canada, telling me the police were looking for 2 gunmen, about 100 miles away from where i was.
It’s a unique tone, but, had I been driving, I could have ignored it and carried on quite easily.
IF someone is unable to manage that, they shouldn’t be driving at all, it’s really not difficult.
I spoke to my pal about it, it’s a regular occurrence there, happens a couple of times a month.
Settings> Notifications > scroll right down, severe and extreme alerts.
That’s where you can turn off the extreme warnings on an iPhone.
It’s a unique tone, but, had I been driving, I could have ignored it and carried on quite easily.
I assume that one of the reasons for the test in April is precisely to get people familiar with the 10 second tone and not panic the first time they hear it.
The alert doesn't sound any more panic-inducing than a sudden unexpected blast of a siren from an emergency vehicle behind you.
Hmm had one last year in Spain, they’d announced it was going to happen, was a bit weird when it did go off,end of the world vibe,but tbh it does make sense.
Don't really see the issue as you can opt out if you really object. Seems you need a reasonably up to date OS on your phone for it to work anyway.
And identify each and every working and in use mobile phone across the whole of the UK.
The test is expected to take place in the early evening of 23 April.
Phone users will have to acknowledge the alert before they can use other features on their devices.
A message will appear on the home screens of people's devices during the test, with vibration and a loud warning sound that will ring for about 10 seconds, even if the phone is set to silent.
Fun aplenty for theatre and concert-goers...
I've turned it off.
I had this back in 2019 whilst in LA...."alert of wildfires in the area" - I wondered for about 3.5 seconds how they knew I was in the area and then realised what it was and they didn't "have my number" it just went to every phone in a cell.
IMO, very useful if not overused.
And identify each and every working and in use mobile phone across the whole of the UK.
Huh?
I don't see what all the fuss is about, just turn it off if you don't want it:
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I don’t see what all the fuss is about, just turn it off if you don’t want it:
I don't even know why someone wouldn't want it on.
Simple. I don't want alerts going off on my phone. As soon as I heard about this on this thread I turned it off. there is no alert they can give out that would in any way be of any use to me. I check the weather, I don't live in an earthquake or tsunami zone. If Putin lobs bombs an alert will make no difference. Im a fully functioning adult. ( well mostly 🙂 )
I don’t even know why someone wouldn’t want it on.
I suppose if the warning was... 'several Nukes incomming' I'd probably rather not know, And if it's 'traffic jam on the M25', it kinda makes the whole thing pointless.
I honestly think it's just a data mining exercise and more than likley yet another erosion of privacy.
I don’t even know why someone wouldn’t want it on.
looks at the state of the current administration
I have absolutely no faith whatsoever that this functionality would be used correctly by the authorities.
That said, while I have just turned it off, I intend to turn it back on after the mass test.
I check the weather, I don’t live in an earthquake or tsunami zone. If Putin lobs bombs an alert will make no difference.
It won't give weather updates nor will it give you earthquake or tsunami warnings, so you don't have to switch it off for fear of that.
The most likely reason you might get an alert is in connection with something important which might affect you, such as an out of control fire near you which is releasing toxic fumes, for example.
What advantages do you feel that you are giving yourself by switching off the alerts....... saving the massive inconvenience to your life of very occasionally, perhaps never, recieving a 10 second alert on your phone?
The most likely reason you might get an alert is in connection with something important which might affect you, such as an out of control fire near you which is releasing toxic fumes, for example.
I have windows! I can see.
How are they going to alert people without mobile phones?
What advantages do you feel that you are giving yourself by switching off the alerts
Privacy
I have absolutely no faith whatsoever that this functionality would be used correctly by the authorities.
That said, while I have just turned it off, I intend to turn it back on after the mass test.
Ah, it's because you don't trust "the authorities".
In which case your second paragraph makes to sense at all. You want to be informed of any emergencies after April 23rd by authorities with whom you have no faith?
And you don't want a dry run to know what to expect?
How are they going to alert people without mobile phones?
How about you tell me?
Privacy
What privacy do you believe that you will be protecting? No one will know whether or not you have received the alert, so switching it off will not make one iota of difference.
It's an intrusion into your day - your private life @ernielynch.
They can **** off. There's nothing they can tell me that's remotely useful.
Yeah a 10 second intrusion on your enormously important private life.
Remind me again why it's an intrusion...... because it makes a noise for 10 seconds?
I honestly think it’s just a data mining exercise and more than likley yet another erosion of privacy.
Privacy
Can you explain that?
Given it's a send only function that only goes to phones around a given mast I don't know how you think it's going to accomplish that. Do you not think that if "they" wanted to hack your phone there would be an easier way to do it?
FFS this forum probably has more things data mining and manipulating us than anywhere else if you're that concerned!
I have windows! I can see.
Good luck seeing a toxic cloud if, for example, a chemical tanker tipped over in your vicinity. There are a lot of nasty chemicals like ammonia that can really ruin your day and the best bit is by the time your realise it's already too late. TBH if I was out and about and that sort of thing happened I'd like to be warned.
It’s an intrusion into your day – your private life
Once in a blue moon you might get a message that could save your life and you're getting that bent out of shape about it?
Wow.
What advantages do you feel that you are giving yourself by switching off the alerts……. saving the massive inconvenience to your life of very occasionally, perhaps never, recieving a 10 second alert on your phone?
A good night's sleep?
Having been woken up in the middle of the night by completely irrelevant, screeching alert messages related to "events" (or, more accurately, non-events) many 100km away on more than one occasion, the authorities here can f++k right off as they can't be trusted to understand what a "proportionate" response is...
This thread is a timely reminder to switch ALL "emergency" alerts off on my newish phone. Thanks
The most likely reason you might get an alert is in connection with something important which might affect you, such as an out of control fire near you which is releasing toxic fumes, for example.
Or more likely, a missing person alert. And, yes, I've had multiple alerts of this type...
so far nobody on here has provided an example which would make me opt-in
Well, it mentions wildfires among other things, and as there’s been at least one wildfire event that started when someone had a barbecue in their back garden, which then set light to a field behind, as well as destroying most of the neighbouring row of houses, it could quite possibly have some merit. There have been other, extensive wildfires across the U.K. over the last couple of years, much more likely events than earthquakes, with the warmer, drier weather we’ve been experiencing.
a loud warning sound that will ring for about 10 seconds, even if the phone is set to silent.
Set it to Airplane mode.
Alternatively, stop clutching your pearls like some on here, and act like a sodding grown up! It’s no invasion of anyone’s privacy, any more than a siren on a fire engine or ambulance or police car, all of which are acting locally as a warning to people and which last about as long.
Yet another example would be a sudden blaze in a warehouse or a waste disposal/recycling yard containing flammable materials which could easily be harmful to people inhaling the smoke. There have been numerous instances of fires like these -a warning to local cell masts to alert people to the fire, and the need to close windows and stay indoors would be advantageous, because it’s unlikely to be announced on every radio station available.
Yet another example would be a sudden blaze in a warehouse or a waste disposal/recycling yard containing flammable materials which could easily be harmful to people inhaling the smoke
Very true.
There was an enormous factory fire in my town last year. Nasty chemicals. You could see it for miles around and the fire brigade were telling folks to stay indoors I think knocking on doors and local radio etc.
I only knew about it as I happened to go outside and see the smoke plume and then Google what a gwan.
A text would have been useful in that instance.
It’s an intrusion into your day – your private life @ernielynch.
They can **** off. There’s nothing they can tell me that’s remotely useful.
The rectangle in you pocket already inundates you with information of varying veracity, and just like that you have the option to opt out if you really want.
We've long had the ability for "the authorities" to send emergency broadcasts over radio and TV, and we don't seem to use that very often in the UK. So your concerns about abuse of this feature seem a little unfounded.
It's neither as sinister or intrusive as you seem to want to believe.
Unless of course this is really all about activating those 5G nano brain chips they injected with the COVID vaccine! Best get working on a tinfoil hat to keep the signals out. The fools have even told you when they're doing it...
I'd switched off the alerts, but at 7.11am my phone started wailing in my pannier bag. As above an emergency number switching alerts back on and unblocking the dodgy numbers I had blocked. I was moving at the time.
The question I have is why on earth are we at least 10years behind most other countries in introducing this. Stuff like this is basic functionality in emergency planning and communication in many societies now, but we are so slow in getting our act together. This was something that was originally scheduled to be introduced in time for 2012 Olympics.
More bothered about it unblocking dodgy numbers without my permission.
The question I have is why on earth are we at least 10years behind most other countries in introducing this
Because not too much gnarly stuff happens here?
It seems a bit pointless to me, we don't have many urgent life-threatening events where an alert could help. But not particularly harmful unless the govt starts using it to spam us excessively. Depending how distracting it is, it could do more harm than good.
It seems a bit pointless to me, we don’t have many urgent life-threatening events where an alert could help.
Which presumably means that you won't receive many alerts, if any.
Why does that make it seem a bit pointless? Almost all fire alarms are installed in buildings which will never accidentally catch fire, does that make them a bit pointless?
