Am I being paranoid or is the fact the government have just set up an emergency alert system...

[BeaAggressiv]

Really freaky?!

Do they expect it to be needed? Why now, is it because of Putin?

I'm not usually alarmist but this has freaked me out.

A warning alert to your phone with a siren?!

This is old news.

Ffs...really? Can we stop with the panic posting all the time??

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57145675

We have that here in the US. We get it for weather stuff, Amber alerts, etc. It's very weird to be at the grocery store and have everybody's phone go off at the same time.

It was announced in the middle of last year ago. And had been in planning firba considerable time before that.

So the timing is sod all to do with current crisis. Unless you really think that they knew by June 2021 when Putin wouid invade (fir that is when when the announcement that it would start in March 2022 was made)

Is it? The articles I read are from yesterday and the day before?

It’s due to be launched (bad choice of words 😬) this year, but they’ve been testing it since last spring, so for about a year. So thankfully not as sinister as it looks, although the timing now is terrible!

Here’s the link to past tests to hopefully put your mind at rest.

www.gov.uk/alerts/past-alerts

The alert was set up last year.

Apologies then, I googled it and the articles all said 2 days ago

People have been sharing it again as if it were a new thing. It isn't.

Is it? The articles I read are from yesterday and the day before?

It's almost like the media are trying to scare you

@KenAdams

People have been sharing it again as if it were a new thing. It isn't.

Ah right. Thankyou

To be fair, even the government’s own page on emergency alerts describes them as “new” next to “2022” on an undated page so if you didn’t know, the gov.uk page certainly wouldn’t have made it any clearer.

@BewareTheLibrarians

To be fair, even the government’s own page on emergency alerts describes them as “new” next to “2022” on an undated page so if you didn’t know, the gov.uk page certainly wouldn’t have made it any clearer.

Yes I looked on their page and it seemed like it was new thing they were setting up.

My anxiety has retreated around 6% now 😂

Thanks

Bea I hope you feel a bit reassured, mate. We can all feel a bit spooked at times.

We had this in Greece on holiday - the warnings were about forest fires on the island. My 10 year nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone started making the siren sound ! Certainly gets your full attention though.

They have this is in Canada. Goes off for extreme weather etc

@OneTC

Is it? The articles I read are from yesterday and the day before?

It's almost like the media are trying to scare you

Indeed.

This annoys me. I can’t have my phone off as it’s my landline and I need it on because of my elderly mum.

I am told other countries who have them end up ignoring them.

6% is good! I also find it reassuring to think that if it’s run anything like test and trace, the alert either won’t go off until 3 days after an attack, or it will go off any time a gnat farts in Bulgaria. Keeps you on your toes!

There are loads of articles in the media at the moment that are nothing more than click bait feeding off people’s fear. It is a scary time, and these alerts have been planned for a while as others have said.
The media have a financial interest in wanting us to read as many articles as they can put up, so advertisers can sell their wares. Someone on here recently said the internet is a like a walking through a souk, with everyone competing to sell you things. The media is no different.

Alarmist articles work for click bait. People want to feel informed. But look! Here! Over 30s life insurance! Doom! And Gloom! Look! This is what all dentists want their patients to start buying! More doom! Why these tops from companies you haven’t heard from! Etc.

For my own anxiety I am trying very hard to remember that a lot of these articles are after my attention to sell me stuff. With my blood pressure going up with fear, I won’t be around to buy anything!

@BeaAggressiv

Really freaky?!

Do they expect it to be needed? Why now, is it because of Putin?

I'm not usually alarmist but this has freaked me out.

A warning alert to your phone with a siren?!

FFS that was MAY 2021!!!!!!! It's more to do with flood evacuations that Putin. You need to take a step back for a moment.

Yes this is just coincidence, has been in the pipeline for some time. Weird, as I remembered yesterday how I'd read the story about the tests being carried out on a select number of phones and thinking how it's good they had already been done and weren't having to be done now!

Oh goody, another Government IT project. 🤦‍♀️

I'm sure it will work...one of them has to eventually.

It's not new. It's already there lurking in your apps. I have a Samsung and it cannot be disabled. I'm angry I'm not given a choice. Whether or not it's a good thing is not my point. It's an invasion of civil liberties which is a major concern of mine.

Do you feel the same about station announcements that tell you a train is on a different platform?

I live in Japan and such alerts are completely normal here. We get them for typhoons and earthquakes, as well as North Korean missile attacks.