Disabling 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.

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fc417fc802 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

While I understand how we arrived at this point I find these centralized systems with special privileges frustrating. That they have repeatedly exhibited severe vulnerabilities and mismanagement is just the cherry on top.

There ought to be a specification of an open protocol that includes certificate based authentication. I should be able to have my pick of which app to use and then subscribe to whatever feeds I'm interested in from anywhere in the world. In addition the local network operator should advertise various local feeds.

What I'm describing is about as technically complicated as RSS plus public keys but as usual even moderate technical competency is a bridge too far for the government.

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harrall 2 hours ago | parent [-]

It’s not a technical problem. And the problem is that it’s not centralized.

Everyone and their mom has their own system, managed by different people with different standards.

It’s like USB cables — yes there are strict technical standards but when you have a million different manufacturers, they all do it differently and some cut corners and bend the rules how they want to.

Look at how two different cities handle their water supply or their police — different management, different priorities.

	▲	fc417fc802 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> 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 operator (AFAIK). Consider, if BigCo wanted the ability to push alerts to people on their campus (who consent to receive them ofc) how would they go about it? If you have family who live elsewhere in the world and wanted to be apprised of natural disasters how would you subscribe to receive those alerts?

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alister 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> 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.

	▲	gucci-on-fleek 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> The Canadian government has made the alerts mandatory. The option to disable alerts in not present in settings menu (at least on iPhones). I'm Canadian too, and I'm able to toggle all the options off on my Android phone, it just does absolutely nothing and all the alerts still come through.
	▲	WarOnPrivacy 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		>> 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. Same for USG and Presidential alerts. I disable them anyway - which I can do after rooting. For one phone I deleted the PotUS alerts file. On another one I edited a config file. On my current handset, I disabled the wireless alert system.

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Onavo an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

The biggest issue is that Amber alerts are abused for both kidnappings and abductions. In a lot of jurisdictions, the term "abduction" is used for cases of domestic disputes e.g the divorced mom left the state with the kid when she wasn't supposed to etc.

I really disagree with Amber alerts being issued in cases where there's no immediate risk of harm to the child, and especially if the child is a teenager. They can damn well decide who they want to be with themselves. The type of stuff that's better off being handled in family courts with contempt of court orders shouldn't be aired out like dirty laundry and domestic disputes should not wake up the entire city. It sucks for the parties involved but there are much bigger fish to fry and actual kidnappings and human trafficking to worry about than to cry wolf across the mobile network every time kids get caught in the crosshairs of a bad relationship.

Next time when you get an Amber alert actually read and check up on the background story.