New FCC Rules Will Require Wireless Companies To Deliver Emergency Alerts More Accurately (recode.net)

The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to update the country's wireless emergency alert system, aiming to ensure that local officials only sound alarms on Americans' smartphones when those citizens are truly in harm's way. From a report: The system, implemented in 2012, allows first responders around the country to dispatch short, loud, text-message-like bulletins to warn mobile users about inclement weather, abducted children or criminals at large. But public-safety leaders long have complained the alerts are inaccurate, rendering it difficult to use them in times of disaster without creating undue panic. And they fret that "over-alerting" has proven so frustrating to smartphone owners that they've simply turned off the alarms entirely -- rendering it even more difficult to communicate in times of an emergency.

Comments

Legislation to the rescue!

[nimbius]

FCC: you must deliver alerts more accurately, no more blanket warnings for random weather events and such.
Wireless company: You mean like the random false alarm for thermonuclear war that was issued by the government?
FCC: ...no see thats different..
Wireless company: or the hundreds of random Amber alerts we're made to issue every year in the bold, misplaced strategy of assuming the average taxpayer will suit up like Ironman and save the day?
FCC:...ok, thats probably not..
Wireless company: Or what about these blue alerts you keep talking about, the ones we might have to issue if theres imminent threat to law enforcement, a career with by its very definition an inherent and indelible risk that no alert will mitigate?

Already broken because of Amber & Silver alert

[Aqualung812]

I've talked to so many people that have already disabled emergency alerts simply because they were awoken in the middle of the night with a amber or silver alert.

Emergency alerts to phones need to be ONLY for things that require immediate action by the phone's owner regardless if awake or asleep.

Things like public awareness notices can be sent over SMS and the phone's built-in logic can decide if the user wants to get those in the middle of the night.