To think there’s something a bit sinister about the Government Emergency Alert test on 7th September?

[ThisAmberSignal]

I know it’s being pitched as just a routine safety check, “nothing to worry about” but I can’t help but feel uneasy. Why now? Why the sudden push to roll this out and get everyone’s phones buzzing at the same time?
Is it really just a public safety measure or could there be something more going on here - surveillance, control, a soft rollout of something bigger?

AIBU to feel suspicious… or do others get the same vibe?

If you are turning off the alert for this test, will you turn it back on afterwards or do you just not want to know if there’s a disaster in your area?

(They have been used for flood warnings and for wild fire warnings so far, to me this feels like the sort of thing I’d want to know about if it was heading my way)

There was also an emergency alert issued about incoming missiles when there was none. I think it was Hawaii.

I live in a quiet area, a suburb, a long way away from any strategic site and nowhere near any flood risk. But.

5 miles away is an industrial estate. 15 miles away is a huge chemical works. I have lived here for less than twenty years and in that time there have been frantic warnings twice to close all doors bad windows and stay inside whilst a chemical fire belched chemical smoke over us. This phone system would work a damn sight better than hoping people listen to the radio.

Anyone with half a brain cell and a moderate interest in what’s going on around the, will already be aware of weather or severe weather events that might impact them. Not sure what paranoia has to do with turning them off. Quite the reverse I’d have thought; only the paranoid would feel the need to to be alerted!

If we lived somewhere with proper extreme weather, or tsunami, earthquake or volcano activity then I’d turn on alerts. But at present I can do my own risk assessment, and have survived for 50 odd years without needing the Government to ‘warn’ me it’s going to be stormy. Maybe if I lived near an industrial area or petrochemical facility I’d like the alerts. But where my homes are? Not needed :)

Yabu

Turn the alerts off if you’re worried

Definitely no harm in regular tests as some people reported last time that they didn’t receive it.

Wild fires and floods? Where do you live?

I had a message from GP surgery warning those in DV situations to switch off alerts.
My old Android phone doesn't get them, at least it didn't go off last time and there is nothing in settings although it's supposed to go to any one on 4G or 5G

Testing the batteries on your smoke alarm does not mean you’re expecting a fire!

This is standard in much of the world. The UK is just a slow adopter. As usual

Yes, typically it does work. An alert will be sent out to a specific area saying residents should stay indoors because police are looking for person with a gun or whatever.
The Nova Scotia mass shooting was an unprecedented event in NS (and in Canada really) that occurred over about 12 hours and 100 kms. The emergency alert system wasn't used, even though it had recently become available. The RCMP put out a tweet while they were searching for the shooter, but that was it. Family members of a couple of women who died said they were totally unaware that anything was happening in their area and went out (to work or for a walk), but they obviously never would have if they had known.

I switched it off because I suffer from (diagnosed and medicated) anxiety, and a particular trigger for me is disaster events and war. I limit my consumption of news and I do not have alerts turned on, because I'm fairly certain a test alarm would trigger a panic attack. I am being responsible and taking steps to control my mental health so that it does not worsen and to limit the impact on my family.

I'm not a member of the "tin foil hat brigade". You, however sound like a thoroughly ignorant person incapable of seeing beyond the end of your own nose and imagining that other people are different from you.

There are a lot of things that could be considered sinister in today's world. I'd suggest this isn't one of them

ignore the nasty bunch of witches telling you to get a grip, they way these people talk to people over the internet would get them a black eye in real life!

op just turn off the alert notification, it’s not hard to do

Love that! Says it all quite succinctly.

I want all the emergency alerts. Sure, during the day I'm pretty much glued to my laptop, and DH is pretty much glued to the TV, but there could be times when neither of us is anywhere near those kinds of information source - but I almost always have my phone nearby. DH is disabled, so if there's an emergency and we have to get out pdq, I wouldn't want to rely on a concerned neighbour knocking on our door.

I had the same concerns having heard that France were making preparations for WW3. My DC think it’s about flood warnings because in the UK they’ve been having heavy rain. I suppose it’s context that influences how you read it.

We may have had a similar alarm in the recent past but that was the first one for many, many years. This is unusual, no doubt about it.

as a Christian these things do not bother me. It will be business as usual, until the end - so these things should prepare us, not scare us. How do you think Ukranians feel living in their own country right now

You’re trying to create drama where there isn’t any. Seriously, just bore off.

It's a good thing really, other countries do it, I was in Krakow and got an alert from the Polish government for a weather warning.

I’ve turned mine off because when it was used in one of the storms it was too late and luckily we’d already been warned by Natural Resources Wales, (I live in an area prone to floods). Anything else and as someone has already said it will probably be on social media before the alert actually gets sent out and if it’s anything really serious then chances are we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it anyway.

I personally think you might be on to something…

Canada is not responsible for emergency alerts in Hawaii.

I'm not aware of any instances of incorrect emergency alerts being sent using the "government" alert system in Canada, but our local college did accidentally send one on their internal system telling all staff and students to shelter in place for unspecified reasons while testing the system. I'm sure that sort of thing happens a lot.

In 2018, Hawaii residents received an emergency alert that ballistic missile were incoming, and it was not a drill.
Very easy to Google info on this.

Oh have a word with yourself 🙄