Emergency Alert System

[APTA-2048]

I actually do agree with the public policy of not having a setting that would allow you to disable the alerts - but you better be sure the bar for invoking that high a level of intrusion to be clear and present danger for the recipient. Amber alerts doesn't belong to that category frankly - it demands mandatory public messages - but not klaxons.

I am not sure why we don't do it for seniors either - it is far, far more often that you have lost/wandering seniors, and the outcomes are often just as deadly. Just what kind of public message are we sending in that context?

AoD

The way the system is supposed to work, there are tiers of alarms. However in Canada we use the same alarm for everything. I believe the "Amber Alert" can be dismissed or disabled. The "Presidential Alert", which again we use for everything, cannot. I, and most others, seem to agree that this should be used for the most extreme of circumstance or immediate danger. We could have a problem where people take these alerts less seriously because they become too frequent. I know a couple of people who woke up glanced at their phone, maybe just saw "Sudbury", and went back to sleep.

 

[Admiral Beez]

While I agree the system is not being used optimally; I also think any adult who called 911 to complain should face a stiff fine.

There are plenty of non-emergency numbers one can call to complain without delaying response to someone in urgent need.

It's also not needed to solve the issue.

1) Do not keep your phone in your bedroom.
2) Turn off your phone.
3) Buy an alarm clock to wake up. Here's one for under CAD$5 with free shipping

When I get home from work, the phone is turned off and put in my boot for tomorrow. Sure, out come the WiFi-only iPad for my browsing, social media, etc., but that won't wake me up.

 

[Admiral Beez]

In the US, they have Silver Alerts for missing seniors. I have often seen messages on interstates with a vehicle description.

Jeez, pity the senior who just wants to f#ck off without being bothered by his pestering family.

 

[gabe]

As for the 911 stuff. Yeah, it's wrong. But it's a form of protest.

I don't like Doug Ford's cuts to education, healthcare & other vital social services, so should everyone like me phone 911 and protest tying up valuable resources putting people's lives in danger?

 

[lenaitch]

I agree that the klaxon is a bit much, especially when it bursts onto an otherwise fairly quiet background environment. I get that they are trying to get your attention, but this isn't Action Stations. Overall, the technology seems fairly immature in terms of the quality of the robo voice and the text graphics (this coming from someone who knows little about such things).

I think the Silver Alert concept would be beneficial, but it would have to involve persons who have some form of surrogate personal affairs accountability (alzheirmer's, etc.) to avoid the possibly well meaning but meddling relatives like the Admiral mentions.

 

[Bayer]

Calling 911 to complain is ridiculous, but so is alerting the entire population because a single person is missing. It certainly motivates me to keep my incompatible Note 4 for as long as possible.

 

[PinkLucy]

Like Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts have activation criteria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Alert

 

[Admiral Beez]

Calling 911 to complain is ridiculous, but so is alerting the entire population because a single person is missing. It certainly motivates me to keep my incompatible Note 4 for as long as possible.

Only my BB Key2 went off. The kids’ Samsung J3s and my wife’s S3 were silent. All hail the old devices.

Has the Amber Alert in Ontario saved anyone? It seems that when we get the alert it’s either a benign custody dispute or the kid’s already dead.

 

[PinkLucy]

Children have been found -- would they have been killed? I don't know, but the abductor has been apprehended.

 

[44 North]

I don't like Doug Ford's cuts to education, healthcare & other vital social services, so should everyone like me phone 911 and protest tying up valuable resources putting people's lives in danger?

If Ford's stuttering and stammering gets broadcast high volume through my phone's extreme-level emergency feature, then yes. Actually wouldn't put it past the party to have considered this lol.

And certainly not discounting people calling 911 tying up the lines. But it was an uncoordinated response. It's not as if there was some premeditated plan to hijack 911 service in retaliation. It was people's own anger at the system expressing itself in its true form. Again not saying it was good, but it's a protest and maybe there will be more response to it than otherwise.

Has the Amber Alert in Ontario saved anyone? It seems that when we get the alert it’s either a benign custody dispute or the kid’s already dead.

That's a bit dark. There's obviously huge benefit to an Amber Alert system even if no one's been found. It's just the one we have now needs serious retooling.

Only my BB Key2 went off. The kids’ Samsung J3s and my wife’s S3 were silent. All hail the old devices.

My Key2 LE was brand new and must've been at max volume. And being new was a bit foreign to me. I just tried to smother it in blankets but didn't work.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

My Key2 LE was brand new and must've been at max volume. And being new was a bit foreign to me. I just tried to smother it in blankets but didn't work.

I think the alert overrides the volume settings. Oh another annoying thing - if you have apps like the Weather Network installed, you don't only get one - but at least 2 (or more - if you have multiple locations) alerts. I deleted the app because of this.

AoD

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Excellent piece - instead of that fluffy "the public need to be better educated" platitudes BS:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/amber-alerts-1.5137889

To do that, the CRTC would have had to create a subcategory of wireless public alerts — one distinct from the "broadcast immediately" emergency alert messages, as defined by the Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management, or SOREM, a working group of federal, provincial and territorial managers.
The pitch was rejected by the CRTC, which cited a lack of consensus among interveners about which alerts should be optional, and the need for consistency on emergency alerts across broadcast and wireless receivers "so that Canadians can receive the same alerts regardless of transmission medium."

So. ****ing. Dumb.

AoD

 

[PinkLucy]

I think the alert overrides the volume settings. Oh another annoying thing - if you have apps like the Weather Network installed, you don't only get one - but at least 2 (or more - if you have multiple locations) alerts. I deleted the app because of this.

AoD

So true. I wonder if the Weather Network should rethink this -- aren't their apps redundant with the alert system now in place?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

So true. I wonder if the Weather Network should rethink this -- aren't their apps redundant with the alert system now in place?

Clearly thinking isn't something they've done a lot of while implementing this. It's almost like they have a committee of the most useless folks drilling down to the lowest common denominator of intelligence making these decisions and try to sell the end product by wrapping it around "please think of the children", warts and all.

And why would Weather Network need to carry it on their apps if all phones with or without it already get the alert? It's like spamming.

AoD

 

[toonderly]

Calling 911 to complain is ridiculous, but so is alerting the entire population because a single person is missing.

When you don't know where the abductor is or where they might get to, of course it makes sense to alert as many people as possible in a reasonably large area. The point is to activate as much passive notice as possible so that if one person happens to notice something they know to report it urgently. That said, I agree that it doesn't seem to make sense to wake so many people up for the Amber Alert. Differentiating between Imminent Local Danger You Need to Avoid and If You Happen to Notice This Report it Immediately would be a great idea.

(Also: it's not just that a child is missing; part of the criteria are that the child is known to be with someone and that there is a risk that that person will harm the child.)