To wonder about the government warning to our phones.

[TarasHarp55]

Does anyone know much about this emergency warning thing on our phones. Can't remember the exact day but in April they're going to test it out. Is it fear mongering again. I'm going to switch it off, anyone else.

Can you block the govt spamming you?

Yes. On iPhone its settings > notifications then scroll to the bottom and switch them off.

Turn it off then. Just because you wouldn’t want to know, some of us might.

I prefer to know if there’s a ‘threat to life’ near me, especially when DC and DH are out and about.

There was a tsunami up the Bristol channel a few hundred years ago. If a nuclear bomb hits people have about 10-15 minutes to get indoors to avoid nuclear fallout so getting an alert quickly could definitely save your life.

Considering the amount of time, organisation and arsing about it takes this government to organise anything, I doubt this test is related to anything imminent. Let’s face it, it’s more likely a case of some MP’s brother developing an alert app and then persuading a government department to bung them a few million £££ for it.

I was reading an article the other day talking about risks to the UK from tsunami .. I think it was if something like part of the Canaries fell into the sea and would result in a wave past London .. no idea where I saw it though or if my recall is 100% ..

How appropriate it is being held on 23 April which is St George's day 😀...

They’re quite normal in a lot of countries. The US has them for extreme weather (tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, blizzards) and wildfires as well as for missing/at risk children (usually runaways or custody disputes). They usually include details about where the emergency is, what to expect, and what you should do to stay safe. Really useful to be honest.

California even uses them when there is a risk of blackouts. People in whichever city is at risk will get an alert telling them to conserve power immediately. Apparently it’s effective and they see a drop in energy consumption within minutes of the alert going out.

Most countries already have this system, and ours has been four years in the planning and creating. So nothing in the news at the moment has anything to do with the timing.

Won't stop the conspiracy theorists though.

I don't think people that opt out of these are necessarily conspiracy theorists, I'm certainly not. I also think in other counties there will also be people who opt out. Everyone that is happy with it seems to feel they need to make out it's wrong for others not to accept these alerts. It's not. I don't think anyone is wrong for accepting it,nits just not for me.

Definitely not a nuclear missile. I'd rather not know as there's nothing I could do. Weather warnings are in place locally too.

Being indoors to avoid a nuclear fallout could NOT definitely save your life. Nothing will save your life unless you have an underground nuclear bunker with several years of supplies..

Can people really not conceive scenarios where these alerts would be useful? Beyond the obvious and hopefully never needed (incoming missile or tsunami), what about a massive fire, a plant malfunction, or a train derailed and spilled its toxic cargo overnight and caused concerns about air quality safety? Wouldn’t it be nice if you lived nearby to get an alert so you could wake up and shut your windows?

Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking everything new is wrong and scary…

Same, I've managed to get through life without it. I also don't like the way the government can access your phone so easy. What will be next.

Not even the threats Putin made against the west recently?

We had this when I lived in the US it was actually really good

They used it for alerting if a child or vulnerable adult went missing in the area as well as other major things - very rare but a good idea

They’re not accessing your phone, they’re sending a text message to your phone number.

Agree with the test, disagree with the date chosen. Sunday just before local elections so it can detract from some bad news or criticism of the government. Also the one day for more people than on any other day of the week with a chance of a bit of rest. The possibility of being disturbed can impact as much as being disturbed for some.

Can people really not conceive scenarios where these alerts would be useful?

Yes. Yes I can. But I opt out because i have to balance the possibility an alert on my phone over my mental health and managing my c-PTSD.

We are not all crazy or scared, just managing our lives in the way that suits us best.

Bit annoying if you are driving, do you have to switch the thing off, it could go shrieking for a long time, also if you are driving you won't know what the hazard is anyway if the phone is in your bag like mine is

The govt can already access your phones. They have agreements in place with the mobile phone operators. I think there's a process to request access specifically but its in place. They can't access specific app data loke whatsapp without getting that platform permission but text, calls, location, searches all easy to get to.

I'm pretty sure the war has sped things up somewhat for this alert system but I don't think its nefarious.

Actually, I’m wrong, they’re not even doing that. The phone mast sends the alert out to all the devices in the area. So it’s not even to your number as such, it’s to your device.

@TarasHarp55

“Same, I've managed to get through life without it. I also don't like the way the government can access your phone so easy. What will be next.”

And then this literally makes you sound like a conspiracy theorist 😂. What do you think will be next?! 🤪

I can see how some alerts may be useful. I just don't see how triggering mass manic in an imminent missile strike is going to be helpful, if we're going to die anyway. It think it no coincidence this has only been wheeled out now it's obvious nothing is going to stop Russian aggression against the west. Threats have already been made to launch an attack on the UK. And all of a sudden we are now testing an alert system we never thought to test before. How odd. I'd rather not know I'm going to die in approximately 90 seconds.

That's true in the event of a full scale nuclear war. But completely wrong in the (much more likely) event of a single nuclear missile striking not directly on you but within 50 miles.

Makes me cross that so many people refuse to think about nuclear missiles and dismiss doing so in the grounds that "the world will end so I'm not going to think about it" It wouldn't end, but people with not a clue what to do would be the most likely to die, needlessly.

I feel they could have been a little less dramatic about it. Loud sirens omitting from phones set to silent and 'a voice' reading out a warning seems unnecessarily 'Two Tribes'.

But the overall idea seems a good one.