AT&T rolls out mandatory 'Presidential Alerts' feature to iPhones; cannot be disabled

[Newsjock]

Source: PC Magazine

AT&T has started to push out a carrier update that will now allow owners of various versions of Apple's iPhone to receive important Wireless Emergency Alerts. The update itself is mandatory, in that users have no way to decline it once they get the message that the over-the-air update has been installed.

Before you start worrying that your device is about to be inundated with emergency messages of all kinds – including zombie attacks – know that it is possible to turn of notifications for AMBER Alerts and Emergency Alerts within your iPhone's settings menu. Although, given the nature of the alerts, it might be in your best interests to keep then enabled for now.

The alerts – mandated by law, notes AT&T – don't use up any texts or data on your device when they're sent out. They're also geographically targeted; Obviously, you'd probably wouldn't be that interested to know that a tornado is bearing down on some city a few states away versus, say, one that's about to hit your hometown.

... The only alert that users can't technically opt out of are "Presidential Alerts," which are exactly what the phrase sounds like – alerts issued by the President or a designee. That's one of the caveats of the Wireless Alert and Response Network Act that established the national emergency alert system starting in 2006.

Read more: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420547,00.asp

[ProdigalJunkMail]

1. found this on my t-mobile

blackberry... good LORD, what a stupid country we have become! somehow, we as a country, have survived for 200+ years without this sort of 'self-important' drivel...

sP

[davidpdx]

25. Well if you think about people are watching less TV and radio

In some parts of the country, especially the mid-west, the south and the east coast they could be useful for tornado and hurricane warnings. The technology has gotten progressively better at predicting them and if it saves lives it is worth it. Look at how many tornado ripped through the mid-west lately. Granted having it only on i-Phones is pretty limited.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

31. i just disagree with the premise that we need the gov't to tell us everything

without an option to turn it off. the local alerts make a lot more sense than a stupid 'presidential alert'...

sP

[davidpdx]

36. Yeah you have a point about disabling it

It would really only be helpful if you were in an area that suffers really bad weather.

[pangaia]

2. WHAT?

I have Net 10.. too dumb a company for this-- I hope.

And cheap. all I need.. :&gt

[Robb]

3. No one listens to the radio any more.

Seems like a sensible evolution of the EBS.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

17. +1.

People need to know about this stuff.

[Turbineguy]

4. I hope it doesn't involve facebook.

When I installed that on my mobile phone I got texts every few seconds about non-earth shettering events.

[riqster]

5. I've got AT &T, and haven't gotten it nt

[LTR]

16. I believe it's installed on newer phones

I have a two year-old Android phone that doesn't have this feature. I do know somebody that recently got a new phone and it does get Amber Alerts, EAS, Presidential Alerts, etc. I don't mind, so long as it's not overused. Otherwise, that would just have a negative effect, and many geeky Android users will flock to the XDA boards looking for disabling hacks.

[backscatter712]

6. This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.

If this were a real nuclear emergency, we would be soooooo out of here, and you would die in ignorance!

This is only a test.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

[NYC_SKP]

7. Obligatory posting of Duck and Cover:

[burnodo]

10. HAHA A government instruction film

full of so many inaccuracies and outright falsehoods

Perfect bookend to the NSA shenanigans

[burnodo]

8. Minority Report

is kicking in

Maybe they'll have an app that warns you about stepping into a puddle or stepping off a curb and avoiding the car. After all, they're probably tracking the car too.

[hobbit709]

9. i like my dumbphone.

Make call, receive call, no apps, no BS.

[richmwill]

12. Me too

My cell phone makes and receives phone calls and texts. Apps can't be installed on it. There is technically a web browser on it, but it makes Prodigy early-90's internet service look advanced. Haven't used it in over a year. Great phone, it's literally all I need.

[arcane1]

13. Same here, my phone is an idiot.

And I prefer it that way

[bike man]

24. I have one of those. At a restaurant one afternoon for a late lunch with a daughter,

she asked for my phone, and the conversation went something like:

she: It's not turned on.

me: I'm not trying to make a call.

she: If we get you a better phone, (other daughter) and I can keep better contact with you with texts.

me: Wouldn't I have to turn it on?

she: Never mind.

edited to add: My point of view re cell phones is I survived for many years with only a land line in the house. At 70, I cannot imagine anything so important going on I must know about it instantly. Whatever it is can wait.

[boston bean]

11. I started getting amber alerts and severe weather alerts on my

Blackberry, service provider Verizon, a couple of months ago.

I was wondering why I was getting them, as I didn't download any apps. And it doesn't come over looking like a normal text.

Hmmm.. This must be why.

[knitter4democracy]

15. I like the severe weather alerts.

I got one a couple weeks back for a tornado warning, and we were on the way to the basement when the actual alarm sounded. I'm totally okay with having that extra minute or two in a tornado.

[BadgerKid]

23. Watching NOAA's warnings and the radar,

we got 10 minutes lead time before city sirens went off. After the danger passed was when we got the text alerts (Sprint).

[knitter4democracy]

35. Really? Weird.

I was already wondering but thinking it was going to miss us when I got the alert waking me up. I was thankful for it. Seems pointless if they're late, though.

[Aerows]

14. This is a test

of the Emergency Stupidity check Broadcast. If you are not stupid, please disregard these messages. If you are stupid, please proceed to be frightened and we'll protect you if you give up all of your rights. If you are not stupid, well, we are siphoning off your data, too, since your neighbor is afraid.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

18. I say GOOD!

It is just another version of the EBS. I HOPE my government (Obama) phone has it!

I was able to trade up to the Kin's that they were offering. They needed more of the older models due to not many could work the touch screen very well. Mine was one of the older model phones so they happily made the trade.

[MiniMe]

19. Verizon kicked this out a while ago

If your phone is on, it is a LOUD alert tone. I don't mind getting them, just wish you could adjust the volume on them.

[MiniMe]

20. And my phone is a dumb phone

[MadrasT]

22. Yep, I've had it on my Verizon phone for around a year.

I hate that sound and I turned them all OFF except the "Presidential" one that you can't deactivate.

[NightWatcher]

21. That's wild. I just found that on my iphone

I remember hearing about this some time ago. Has any alert gone through yet, aside from an amber alert?

[RobinA]

26. I Don't Have a Problem

with this, I just wish you could turn it off. I have an emergency alert system attached to my e-mails, and I get TONS of weather alerts, most of which are not emergencies.

[tammywammy]

30. You should be able to turn off everything except the Presidential Alert. n/t

[graham4anything]

27. I know, if I were driving, unbeknownst to me a tornado was in the area, damn right I would want this

why do people find needles in every bit of hay?

[HiPointDem]

28. another reason not to have a cell phone.

[KharmaTrain]

29. A Modern Version of Conelrad...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CONELRAD

...the system put into place during the Truman administration and at the height of the Cold War that would allow the President to take control of the airwaves with the flip of a switch. It was also widely reported that the system would cut into major phone networks as well but the assumption was that if there was a nuke attack the phone systems would become inoperative and only select broadcast transmitters would remain in service. The "doomsday" scenario is constantly being revised as technology changes.

I see no problem with the government having access to sending me alerts of tornadoes or other pending disasters. With fewer and fewer people listening to radio and watching local TV, there need to be newer ways to reach people to let them know something dangerous is headed their way...

[ananda]

32. What if your phone is turned off?

Will the presidential alert turn it back on to alert?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

33. Freeper freak-out in 5,4,3,2,1

"Obama is taking over are cell phones!1!1!1"

Hey freepers, how else is he supposed to tell you to report to FEMA camps?

[sigmasix]

34. how dare the government do something good

How dare the government do something to warn Americans about dangerous weather and child abductions. Especially when there are so many ODS creeps that are confident that President Obama is out to destroy America!
Everyone knows that Amber alerts are just false flag operations designed to confuse Americans into giving a shit about each other: and we know that Americans cant see each other as the enemy if we all are in this together.
That evil American cohesion is what the teabaggers are out to destroy with their constant AntiAmerican fear mongering and right wing conspiracy theory parroting. These alerts are probably more proof that Obama is out to spy on every American, all the time. It must be exhausting to manufacture outrage 24 hrs a day.
The idiocracy is represented well by Teabaggers and ODS practicioners.

[longship]

37. "This is a Conelrad alert"

"Tune your radio to 640 or 1240 for further information."

I remember this protocol from the 1950's. in fact radios of the day often had a little US Civil Defense icon at 640 and 1240 on the frequency dial.