I DO NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ALERT SYSTEM. It is unconstitutional and should be optional.
It's a one-way alert system that let's you know a hurricane is coming or if terrorists are at America's door. (Or whichever country the iPhone owner is in)
One-way.
Also, there's clearly an on-off switch right there in the picture... It's optional, relax.
I DO NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ALERT SYSTEM. It is unconstitutional and should be optional. If you feel the same way please email Apple, AT&T, and your elected representative. A big enough outcry can get these bureaucrats to change their mind.
I demandeth that thou government supply a quantity of cotton wool for my ears, so ye town crier doth not wake me from my sleep. Sky King 1713
I'm so f'king tired of the seeming 10s of millions dumbass Americans who couldn't pick their own nose without help claiming everything is unconstitutional this and unconstitutional that.
This guy may be off on the wrong foot but the behavior of the Federal government only fans the flames. The reality is this administration has engaged in many unconstitutional activities some bringing comments from federal judges. In a nut shell it doesn't help to keep the whack jobs under control when factual behavior is well documented.
Please cite specifically the language in them constitution that would forbid this activity and cite the court decisions backing up your typically dumbass opinion.
Maybe you should try reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Everyone has a right to self expression even if it borders on stupid.
T-Mobile customers where able to receive these alerts since April! I can get a little annoying when you receive an AMBER alert at 4 o'clock in the morning from somewhere a couple of hundred miles away. I turned amber off but the other ones could be useful. Especially if you live near a vulcano and earthquake area.
Child abduction is a horrible thing but I don't honestly see how rolling Amber alerts into this system will actually help with this problem.
Well...if the emergency alert system for AT&T's iPhones are anything like the emergency alert system on my T-Mo iPhone, you can't actually turn off all the emergency alerts. If I remember right, the "Presidential" and "Imminent Threat" alerts can't be turned off. No surprise there because they aren't there as options to toggle on or off.
Also...if I remember right, wasn't there some law or something passed a few years ago that made it mandatory for *all* cell phones manufactured after that law was passed to receive these alerts? I could've sworn that something had gotten passed regarding this...I remember that my Samsung Galaxy II had just barely made it as one of the phones that wouldn't get this alert system. But even my mom's dumbphone that she got a year or so ago gets these emergency alerts pushed to her phone. So no...it's not unconstitutional to have the emergency alerts pushed to your phone, whichever one it is.
If you don't like it, I have a tip for you: Just turn your phone off if you know things are bad but you don't want to be bothered to receive alerts. I've done this before...the emergency alert system definitely needs work because it doesn't seem that there are priorities with what needs to get pushed out as an alert, complete with the Emergency Broadcast System alert sound--just like the kind you used to hear on the TV years ago. Within my first week of owning the T-Mo iPhone 5, I got freaked out when the thing gave me an emergency alert--an AMBER Alert regarding a missing child in TX, of all places--and I live in IL. I had the phone sitting next to me. The alarm was very loud and it seems there's no way to turn down the volume...my own phone's volume was set pretty low at the time. The alert scared the hell out of me. I immediately turned off the AMBER Alerts on my phone. Since then, I've gotten warnings about flash flooding, but the areas being mentioned were a little too far away to apply to me. And once, it was just drizzling out here and I got a warning about flash flooding in the suburbs. So when we get severe storms overnight, for instance, I turn off my phone. I know I'm tempting fate here, a bit, but seriously...the system does need work. Mostly, I think the system needs to decide what needs that Emergency Broadcast System sound and what doesn't. AMBER Alerts are serious, sure, but I don't think they're serious enough to need that sound.
It is wrong and NO, you can't opt out of it. You cannot opt out of the presidents personal forced line of communication with you. You can only opt out of the AMBER and FEMA alerts.
This is the equivalent of forcing you to subscribe to instant alerts from my twitter feed. I haven't found anything regarding what the president can and cannot send to me, and truthfully, I don't want him sending me or my kids unsolicited messages.
The only one of the three types you can't opt out of are the Presidential ones. Of course I don't see any reason to disable the other two either. If there's a severe weather alert or some train car is leaking toxic chemical clouds in my area I'd like to be aware of it. Some users mention it gives the government a way to track the location of every cellphone used in the US and they distrust plans for it. Well heck the carriers already know where you are anyway and shares it with authorities when needed. This doesn't add a new tracking layer AFAIK.
It's a one-way alert system that let's you know a hurricane is coming or if terrorists are at America's door. (Or whichever country the iPhone owner is in)
One-way.
How does AT&T know which location I'm in in order to send me a tornado warning? Is this based on the address information AT&T has on file or actual location services on my phone?
I would tend to think that the latter - using location services - would be the case, thus implying that this is a two-way communication, not just a one-way communication between the EAS and myself as others have suggested.
How does AT&T know which location I'm in in order to send me a tornado warning? Is this based on the address information AT&T has on file or actual location services on my phone?
I would tend to think that the latter - using location services - would be the case, thus implying that this is a two-way communication, not just a one-way communication between the EAS and myself as others have suggested.
It's based on your current location, not your billing address. You can't opt-out of carrier tracking.
I DO NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ALERT SYSTEM.
Dang. If only there was a switch of some sort. A switch that, I don't know, allowed one to put these alerts in a state whereby they would no longer be on. A state akin to, oh, say, OFF.
Apparently we need better alt text on the images on this site, because a lot of blind people are reading it.
You cannot opt out of the presidents personal forced line of communication with you.
Even if you weren't blind and illiterate, and regardless of your personal political preferences, I think everyone in the country would be fine with this as long as it was a two-way system, you know? "If he can't shut ME out, I'd be fine with ignoring him," you know?
So again, look at the images.
You can only opt out of the AMBER and FEMA alerts.
So where is this magical presidential hotline, anyway? You seem to be whining about something that doesn't exist.
The way I read this, they are rolling out an update on the AT&T network to allow the network to receive and carry these alerts. They are not touching your iPhone or its IOS.
Incorrect. There is definitely an update to the software in your phone and a change. Go to notifications and you'll see the two new toggles. Apple may have put the ability into iOS 6 a while a ago and this just activated it but its definitely an adjustment in the phone and not just the towers.
How does AT&T know which location I'm in in order to send me a tornado warning? Is this based on the address information AT&T has on file or actual location services on my phone?
"AT&T adds emergency alert system" so that Big Brother can talk us whenever it wants.
Sure this system is optional now. But since it is in our own best interest, how long before these become mandatory alerts? How long before we are require to acknowledge official alerts with a thumb print? And how the heck do we know what this or any other software update mandated by the government really contains in a closed system? Where can I get a look at the source code of this update to make sure it has nothing else in there to spy on us with the location tracking, microphones or cameras?
I fully admit that the above is paranoid thinking but if there is one thing the last couple of weeks have taught us is that we are not being paranoid enough.
Where can I get a look at the source code of this update to make sure it has nothing else in there to spy on us with the location tracking, microphones or cameras?
Nowhere, because you're already being tracked. Has nothing to do with this update.
How does AT&T know which location I'm in in order to send me a tornado warning? Is this based on the address information AT&T has on file or actual location services on my phone?
I would tend to think that the latter - using location services - would be the case, thus implying that this is a two-way communication, not just a one-way communication between the EAS and myself as others have suggested.
This guy may be off on the wrong foot but the behavior of the Federal government only fans the flames. The reality is this administration has engaged in many unconstitutional activities some bringing comments from federal judges. In a nut shell it doesn't help to keep the whack jobs under control when factual behavior is well documented.
WTF does Obama have to do with this? Are you one of THOSE people?
I'm so f'king tired of the seeming 10s of millions dumbass Americans who couldn't pick their own nose without help claiming everything is unconstitutional this and unconstitutional that.
Please cite specifically the language in them constitution that would forbid this activity and cite the court decisions backing up your typically dumbass opinion.
Comments
It's a one-way alert system that let's you know a hurricane is coming or if terrorists are at America's door. (Or whichever country the iPhone owner is in)
One-way.
Also, there's clearly an on-off switch right there in the picture... It's optional, relax.
Actually you can't disable "Presidential Alerts" which is an euphemism for nuclear attacks (used since the days of the EBS).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky King
I DO NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ALERT SYSTEM. It is unconstitutional and should be optional. If you feel the same way please email Apple, AT&T, and your elected representative. A big enough outcry can get these bureaucrats to change their mind.
I demandeth that thou government supply a quantity of cotton wool for my ears, so ye town crier doth not wake me from my sleep. Sky King 1713
Maybe you should try reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Everyone has a right to self expression even if it borders on stupid.
Child abduction is a horrible thing but I don't honestly see how rolling Amber alerts into this system will actually help with this problem.
Also...if I remember right, wasn't there some law or something passed a few years ago that made it mandatory for *all* cell phones manufactured after that law was passed to receive these alerts? I could've sworn that something had gotten passed regarding this...I remember that my Samsung Galaxy II had just barely made it as one of the phones that wouldn't get this alert system. But even my mom's dumbphone that she got a year or so ago gets these emergency alerts pushed to her phone. So no...it's not unconstitutional to have the emergency alerts pushed to your phone, whichever one it is.
If you don't like it, I have a tip for you: Just turn your phone off if you know things are bad but you don't want to be bothered to receive alerts. I've done this before...the emergency alert system definitely needs work because it doesn't seem that there are priorities with what needs to get pushed out as an alert, complete with the Emergency Broadcast System alert sound--just like the kind you used to hear on the TV years ago. Within my first week of owning the T-Mo iPhone 5, I got freaked out when the thing gave me an emergency alert--an AMBER Alert regarding a missing child in TX, of all places--and I live in IL. I had the phone sitting next to me. The alarm was very loud and it seems there's no way to turn down the volume...my own phone's volume was set pretty low at the time. The alert scared the hell out of me. I immediately turned off the AMBER Alerts on my phone. Since then, I've gotten warnings about flash flooding, but the areas being mentioned were a little too far away to apply to me. And once, it was just drizzling out here and I got a warning about flash flooding in the suburbs. So when we get severe storms overnight, for instance, I turn off my phone. I know I'm tempting fate here, a bit, but seriously...the system does need work. Mostly, I think the system needs to decide what needs that Emergency Broadcast System sound and what doesn't. AMBER Alerts are serious, sure, but I don't think they're serious enough to need that sound.
This is the equivalent of forcing you to subscribe to instant alerts from my twitter feed. I haven't found anything regarding what the president can and cannot send to me, and truthfully, I don't want him sending me or my kids unsolicited messages.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/president-obama-could-send-text-message-warnings-in-new-plan-system.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziadjk
It's a one-way alert system that let's you know a hurricane is coming or if terrorists are at America's door. (Or whichever country the iPhone owner is in)
One-way.
How does AT&T know which location I'm in in order to send me a tornado warning? Is this based on the address information AT&T has on file or actual location services on my phone?
I would tend to think that the latter - using location services - would be the case, thus implying that this is a two-way communication, not just a one-way communication between the EAS and myself as others have suggested.
It's based on your current location, not your billing address. You can't opt-out of carrier tracking.
Dang. If only there was a switch of some sort. A switch that, I don't know, allowed one to put these alerts in a state whereby they would no longer be on. A state akin to, oh, say, OFF.
Apparently we need better alt text on the images on this site, because a lot of blind people are reading it.
You cannot opt out of the presidents personal forced line of communication with you.
Even if you weren't blind and illiterate, and regardless of your personal political preferences, I think everyone in the country would be fine with this as long as it was a two-way system, you know? "If he can't shut ME out, I'd be fine with ignoring him," you know?
So again, look at the images.
So where is this magical presidential hotline, anyway? You seem to be whining about something that doesn't exist.
Incorrect. There is definitely an update to the software in your phone and a change. Go to notifications and you'll see the two new toggles. Apple may have put the ability into iOS 6 a while a ago and this just activated it but its definitely an adjustment in the phone and not just the towers.
Tower you are connected to.
Sure this system is optional now. But since it is in our own best interest, how long before these become mandatory alerts? How long before we are require to acknowledge official alerts with a thumb print? And how the heck do we know what this or any other software update mandated by the government really contains in a closed system? Where can I get a look at the source code of this update to make sure it has nothing else in there to spy on us with the location tracking, microphones or cameras?
I fully admit that the above is paranoid thinking but if there is one thing the last couple of weeks have taught us is that we are not being paranoid enough.
Nowhere, because you're already being tracked. Has nothing to do with this update.
Of course the nearest tower knows your location.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wizard69
This guy may be off on the wrong foot but the behavior of the Federal government only fans the flames. The reality is this administration has engaged in many unconstitutional activities some bringing comments from federal judges. In a nut shell it doesn't help to keep the whack jobs under control when factual behavior is well documented.
WTF does Obama have to do with this? Are you one of THOSE people?
Quote:
Originally Posted by waldobushman
I'm so f'king tired of the seeming 10s of millions dumbass Americans who couldn't pick their own nose without help claiming everything is unconstitutional this and unconstitutional that.
Please cite specifically the language in them constitution that would forbid this activity and cite the court decisions backing up your typically dumbass opinion.
^^^^^^^