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Comment by callalex | Hacker News Reader

(Context: today there was rare a pre-scheduled test of the emergency broadcast system that buzzed every phone and radio in the entire United States. It seems to have generally been successful, and it’s genuinely amazing to think about the sheer scale and reach of this system.)

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What weird timing because I just got my first ever "Presidential alert" in Croatia because a plastics factory was burning south of my city. Luckily there was a northernly wind all day.

Same here in italy, they're testing the alert system. Only my huawei called it "presidential" though, the xiaomis just called it an alert.

However i am assuming that the european alert standard is based on an earlier protocol than LTE, does anyone have any info?

I have a pixe 6 so maybe this "Presidential" thing is from the US.

Right after the IT-alert the quality of my mobile internet connection plummeted for almost an hour, my ping from Italy to Netherlands was between 100 and 600ms (usually it's 30-55ms).

My guess is that some people weren't aware of the test and started calling their relatives asking questions.

same in germany around the 1st. was at a store with friends from the US and china. Everyone one's phones started to ping. Even the US and china ones on roaming (or local sim cards? don't really know)

> It seems to have generally been successful

I guess so, but myself and roughly half the people I've talked to got the audible alert in Spanish but not in English. This doesn't seem quite successful to me, but where do I send my feedback?

> that buzzed every phone and radio in the entire United States

Unless you turned that crap off.

It can't be turned off.

I've turned them off on every android phone I've had. I can't ever remember how though so I have to dig around every time.

Without rooting or using custom roms? AFAIK all stock roms allow you to turn off most alert types, but not this one specifically.

Without rooting or using custom roms. Current phone is stock Oneplus 6T with all alerts disabled. I got none yesterday.

Edit: At first I incorrectly mentioned 7T. 6T is my current phone. I should probably do something about that eventually as it doesn't get updates anymore. I see in the settings something for alerts but it doesn't open. I have no clue how I disabled them but I did.

Same. I have an iPhone now and was annoyed that I can't. I have all "Government Alerts" disabled in settings and I still got the test alert yesterday.

It's going to be interesting times when you both cannot trust and cannot disable these sorts of push messages and alerts.

By curiosity, why do you say it is crap ?

They've never given me any information that's relevant or useful and they're annoying. And apparently not overly difficult to spoof.

Perhaps you are thinking of other kinds/levels of alerts?

Was there ever a Presidential Alert before that test? Can they be disabled?

> Perhaps you are thinking of other kinds/levels of alerts?

No, I'm thinking of all levels.

> Was there ever a Presidential Alert before that test?

I can recall two presidential alerts, both tests. This affirms my point about not getting anything useful.

> Can they be disabled?

I guess that depends on your phone. I've been able to on Android.

I wouldn't mind getting a "nukes in 30 minutes" warning (if it was real) but most of the alerts are useless. What use is an amber alert for "somebody kidnapped a kid (custody dispute) 500 miles away from you, be on the lookout for a white truck"? I left those alerts on for a few years because I felt guilty about turning them off, but none of the alerts were ever actionable.

I wonder if there's an uptick in auto accidents whenever one t these alerts goes out.

BOLOs are usually Amber Alerts, which are distinct from National Emergency Broadcasts. You can turn off AAs, I don't think you can turn off the others.

I turned them off. Can't remember how. You might be able to.

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