TBH phones in Poland allow to call you "from" an arbitrary number (i.e. display it on your phone). Also send SMS with arbitrary source. This is being used by scammers who call you and tell they are from police bank etc
Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
111–120 of 142 posts
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It’s not a technical problem. I agree. It's a lack of technical proficiency on the part of the world's government's problem, which is another way of saying it's a political problem. > And the problem is that it’s not centralized. It is, though. The implementation might not be uniform but the architecture is inherently centralized. Subscribers do not get to pick and choose sources, that is decided by the network ope…
What emergency alerts would BigCo push to people on its campus? There would be no consent btw, they'd just fire anyone who didn't enable the alerts.
I have no idea what they would push, the point is that certain large institutions may have a legitimate interest in reaching users on the premise from time to time. Airports, stadiums, and theme parks immediately come to mind. Anywhere there's a large gathering of people over a wide area which complicates any emergency response.
Why can't the local PD push out an alert to a particular neighborhood if they deem it useful for whatever reason? As long as they didn't spam me I'd voluntarily subscribe to that. As it currently stands I believe (at least in my state) they would have to escalate to a statewide institution and even then I don't understand the targeting to be particularly fine grained.
On top of all that alerts aren't currently authenticated.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#113Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset (after rooting) - including Presidential alerts. The Amber alerts I got were often hundreds of miles away. But even if they were closer - say only 25 mi away, I'm still not going to be any help. Weather alerts weren't much better. Having my device sound the klaxons over Red Flag warnings conditioned me to ignore all alerts.
You cannot disable maximum severity cell broadcast alerts on the iPhone.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#114Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset (after rooting) - including Presidential alerts. The Amber alerts I got were often hundreds of miles away. But even if they were closer - say only 25 mi away, I'm still not going to be any help. Weather alerts weren't much better. Having my device sound the klaxons over Red Flag warnings conditioned me to ignore all alerts.
> Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset Except you can't in Canada. The Canadian government has made the alerts mandatory. The option to disable alerts in not present in settings menu (at least on iPhones). You can disable alerts in Brazil. So in one sense, Brazil is more free than Canada.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#115Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset (after rooting) - including Presidential alerts. The Amber alerts I got were often hundreds of miles away. But even if they were closer - say only 25 mi away, I'm still not going to be any help. Weather alerts weren't much better. Having my device sound the klaxons over Red Flag warnings conditioned me to ignore all alerts.
> Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset Except you can't in Canada. The Canadian government has made the alerts mandatory. The option to disable alerts in not present in settings menu (at least on iPhones). You can disable alerts in Brazil. So in one sense, Brazil is more free than Canada.
There was a scheduled test last weekend, and I disabled the single “emergency alert” option in my iPhone’s settings. But it didn’t work, I still received the alert, complete with the heart attack inducing sound.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#116Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset (after rooting) - including Presidential alerts. The Amber alerts I got were often hundreds of miles away. But even if they were closer - say only 25 mi away, I'm still not going to be any help. Weather alerts weren't much better. Having my device sound the klaxons over Red Flag warnings conditioned me to ignore all alerts.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
What emergency alerts would BigCo push to people on its campus? There would be no consent btw, they'd just fire anyone who didn't enable the alerts.
Well yes, there are many things that you must consent to as a condition of employment. Nothing new there. I have no idea what they would push, the point is that certain large institutions may have a legitimate interest in reaching users on the premise from time to time. Airports, stadiums, and theme parks immediately come to mind. Anywhere there's a large gathering of people over a wide area which complicates any eme…
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modifi…
That, too, is an actual distinction that actually matters. - Sent from my Android/Linux phone, because the GNU ones aren't practical yet.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#119Disabling alerts is the second thing I do to a new handset (after rooting) - including Presidential alerts. The Amber alerts I got were often hundreds of miles away. But even if they were closer - say only 25 mi away, I'm still not going to be any help. Weather alerts weren't much better. Having my device sound the klaxons over Red Flag warnings conditioned me to ignore all alerts.
Even if you help the cops locate the kidnapping victim, they might just murder her.
Re: Unauthorized alert sent to cell phones across Brazil
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
The 4G/5G Public Warning System is fundamentally designed for instantaneous earthquake and tsunami response. It's a bit like modern day equivalent of air raid sirens, or incoming nuke alerts, even. And as such, it's just unfit for things that don't require immediate and full alert. AMBER alerts are just not good use of it.
It's another instance of: give a politician a fish and watch him smear it on the walls to stink up the place, throw it in the garbage and then complain he's still hungry.