Presidential Alerts • Hacker News Board

Re: Presidential Alerts

#21

Post by amysox » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:30 PM UTC

IronWolve wrote: post #7

This has nothing to do with POTUS Trump, its been out for years, even under Obama. You can disable all alerts EXCEPT the Presidential alerts, due to extreme emergencies which its used for. And I don't think its ever been used. But as alerts go, I had to shut off the Amber alerts, the local Seattle and King county was spamming my phone and even getting amber alerts for other counties hundreds of miles away. I carry 2…

"Presidential Alerts" don't actually originate from the President. They come from FEMA, which selects one of several pre-written messages that fits the current situation, customizes the text as necessary, and sends it out to the phone carriers. One FEMA official has to actually write the message, and then two others have to sign off on the wording before it can go out.

So, no, you're not going to be getting mandatory Trump tweets on your phone.

Re: Presidential Alerts

#22

Post by jpindar » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:30 PM UTC

noncoml wrote: post #14

.

You couldn't opt out of the Emergency Broadcast System alerts on TV either, did they scare you?

Re: Presidential Alerts

#23

Post by chrissnell » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:30 PM UTC

I accidentally swiped it on the iPhone lock screen and now it's gone. I don't see it in my notifications. Is there a way to find it?

Re: Presidential Alerts

#24

Post by antsar » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:31 PM UTC

gavreh wrote: post #5

Why can't I disable or opt out of this?

You're not the only one wondering this, and there's a related lawsuit (on first amendment grounds).

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/01/trump-presidential...

Re: Presidential Alerts

#25

Post by valbaca » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:31 PM UTC

protomyth wrote: post #11

It was a bit odd to have every cellphone in a hallway go off with the same tone. I guess some folks weren't watching the news and didn't get word before hand.

> I guess some folks weren't watching the news and didn't get word before hand.

How would have knowing about it changed anything if you can't opt out?

Re: Presidential Alerts

#26

Post by mikestew » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:32 PM UTC

protomyth wrote: post #11

It was a bit odd to have every cellphone in a hallway go off with the same tone. I guess some folks weren't watching the news and didn't get word before hand.

I guess some folks weren't watching the news

Some folks tend to do that at work, yes.

Re: Presidential Alerts

#27

Post by mortenjorck » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:33 PM UTC

I still don’t understand the actual point of this, beyond the optics of a vaguely-defined “emergency preparedness.”

Emergencies are inherently local. Even if smartphones had been widespread in 2001 and the presidential alert system had been active on 9/11, what purpose would a nationwide alert have served?

Re: Presidential Alerts

#28

Post by Rebelgecko » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:33 PM UTC

chrissnell wrote: post #23

I accidentally swiped it on the iPhone lock screen and now it's gone. I don't see it in my notifications. Is there a way to find it?

Dunno if it's the same on an iPhone, but on Android it shows up in my texting app

Re: Presidential Alerts

#29

Post by DavideNL » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:34 PM UTC

gavreh wrote: post #5

Why can't I disable or opt out of this?

Ridiculous, presidential Spam...

Re: Presidential Alerts

#30

Post by theshadowknows » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 6:34 PM UTC

So what system allows them to jack into every mobile network in the country at once? Or do I just have an extremely poor understanding of how these things work?