A new lawsuit filed in New York is seeking to stop the implementation of FEMA's new "Presidential Alert" messaging system, an alert used for national emergencies that can be deployed by President Trump. Plaintiffs in Manhattan are suing Mr. Trump and FEMA Administrator Brock Long, claiming the alert system is a "violation of Americans' First and Fourth Amendment rights to be free from Government-compelled listening, as well as warrantless, non-consensual trespass into and seizure of their cellular devices."
Plaintiffs compare the alert system to "hijacking private property for the purpose of planting a Government-controlled loudspeaker in the home and on the person of every American." This new presidential alert is nationwide and only used for advance warning of national crises.
According to FEMA, the alert is not a text or SMS (short message service) but an audio and text warning that will display as a notification across a user's cellphone -- similar to the ones carriers receive during Amber Alerts and weather emergencies.
Previously: FEMA Emergency Test Message to be Sent to Most U.S. Cell Phones on Sept. 20 (or Oct. 3)
What to Expect From the U.S. Wireless Emergency Alert Test Today
Related Stories
IPAWS National Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on September 20, 2018. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed. The WEA test message will be sent to cell phones that are connected to wireless providers participating in WEA. This is the fourth EAS nationwide test and the first national WEA test. Previous EAS national tests were conducted in November 2011, September 2016, and September 2017 in collaboration with the FCC, broadcasters, and emergency management officials in recognition of FEMA's National Preparedness Month.
[...] Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 2:18 p.m. EDT. During this time, WEA compatible cell phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA should be capable of receiving the test message. Some cell phones will not receive the test message, and cell phones should only receive the message once. The WEA test message will have a header that reads "Presidential Alert" and text that says:
"THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."
The WEA system is used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations through alerts on cell phones. The national test will use the same special tone and vibration as with all WEA messages (i.e. Tornado Warning, AMBER Alert). Users cannot opt out of the WEA test. If circumstances, such as a major weather event, cause the IPAWS National Test to be postponed, the back-up date is Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
Also at Engadget.
What to Expect From the Wireless Emergency Alert Test Wednesday:
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System on Wednesday will send a test message to everyone using a phone in the US that runs on a network operated by a carrier participating in the the Wireless Emergency Alert system. You'll know you've gotten the message if the header reads "Presidential Alert."
The content of the message will also make it clear you've received the test message. "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed," it'll read. If you've ever received an Amber Alert on your phone, the WEA test might look similar. That's because both types of messages are sent through the same Federal Emergency Management Agency system.
[...] The test message will be sent at 11:18 a.m. PT/2:18 p.m. ET on Wednesday, though FEMA says it might take a few minutes for the test to make it to all phones. Your phone may alert you that the test message has arrived in a slightly different manner than normal text notifications, FEMA says. "WEA includes a special tone (some describe it as quite loud) and a vibration, both repeated twice," according to a description on the FEMA website.
[...] The WEA test will be followed by a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, which is a similar message that will be played over broadcast radio and television stations, at 11:20 a.m. PT/2:20 p.m. ET. Both tests were originally planned for Sept. 20 but were postponed until Oct. 3 because of Hurricane Florence.
Previously: FEMA Emergency Test Message to be Sent to Most U.S. Cell Phones on Sept. 20 (or Oct. 3)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:41PM (3 children)
Long live Emperor Trump!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @10:08PM (1 child)
god emperor
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday October 07 2018, @05:04AM
Thank you for your beautiful beautiful support. Many people are saying that God likes me a lot. That my agenda is God's agenda. That God is doing a lot for me -- and I'm doing more for God than anybody. Ever!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @11:49PM
He needs some new clothes.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Snotnose on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:44PM (12 children)
One thing I hate about my new phone is I can't disable these stupid alerts. Never even knew they existed until there was a missing kid, 500 miles away, at 2 AM. Damn phone scared the shit out of me. Next day lots of people were bitching about it, and then some SJW said "please don't disable these alerts, they're important!". Once I knew I could disable them it was quick work to do so.
Recent alerts I've gotten. The power in my area is out. No shit, the TV and lights turned off, going outside no streetlights are working. Figured it out for myself a good 5 minutes before the alert. Next one was the power was back on. Um, yeah. I was watching TV when that one came in.
Don't even get me started about the missing kids in the middle of the night. What do you think I'm gonna do, get out of bed, dress, and drive around in my car looking for them? Not gonna happen.
I suspect the main issue with the presidential alert is due to the shit Trump spews via twitter, and we're afraid he'll spew that same shit with an alert I can't disable.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:51PM
I'm happy to live in NY State and pay a little more tax than in other states. Looking for our NY Attorney General to go after Trump's history of tax fraud next. At least some of the money and gifts from his father that he's hidden are (I believe) not protected by statute of limitations.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:52PM (2 children)
What phone do you have? Even the iPhone lets the user disable AMBER alerts and Emergency alerts.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Sunday October 07 2018, @12:26AM (1 child)
LG X Power, bought Feb of '17. Trust me, there's no way to disable the alerts on this phone.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @04:56AM
Sure there's a way.
Drop the phone into a Faraday cage.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday October 06 2018, @10:00PM (5 children)
I too disabled those Amber alerts as soon as I got the first one. 99.99999999999999999999999999999% of the time it's just custody dispute crap in a messy divorce. Fuck that.
(Score: 4, Funny) by black6host on Saturday October 06 2018, @10:16PM
Wow! You must be like, I don't know, a Sigma 20 Hundred Black Belt or something with that kind of precision! j/k :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @10:25PM (2 children)
Yeah, I left them on for a long time, but every single alert was distracting and far away from me. They need to geographically target these messages if they want me to enable them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @02:11AM
I shut mine off after being woken at 3AM one night for an alert on the other side of the state. It's one of the first things I do with a new phone now.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Sunday October 07 2018, @08:25PM
The Silver and Amber alerts are regionally targeted and can be disabled on my LG phone. The emergency notifications are a much wider scope but I can still disable them, Only the Presidential warnings offer no way to disable or control them to my knowledge. Here in the SW US, I get more Silver alerts than anything else. Another old person gets lost in the dessert on the way to or from the grocery store.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:28PM
what kind of pitiful fuck gets permission from the government to marry and produce slave children for the state? and they want to have me ratting these pitiful fools out because the wrong "guardian" has the slave child? fuck you, pigs!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Magic Oddball on Sunday October 07 2018, @12:29AM
I thankfully had no problem disabling the Amber & Emergency Alerts on my phone (Moto E4), but surprisingly that wasn't enough to prevent the far louder Presidential Alert, which also apparently is designed to trigger the maximum-vibration setting. When it went off, I was taking a nap, so the combination of the tone & buzzing sounded enough to my sleep-futzed brain like the old Emergency Broadcast/Alert System tests [youtube.com] that I spent few very confused seconds thinking it was coming from the TV that used to be in the family room about 20 years ago.
What baffles me is why they didn't just have this be an extension of the nationwide Emergency Alert System that they started testing several years ago; the fact that it's being sent to phones instead of televisions & radio shouldn't matter that much. Then again, natural disasters & terrorist attacks would all qualify as local emergencies better suited to the older local system; the only thing I can think of that'd be a genuine nationwide emergency would be nuclear missiles being minutes away from flattening every major city in the country, in which case all we can really do is put our heads between our knees and kiss our asses goodbye.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:59AM
Um, what? You don't know what you're talking about. You can disable them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:50PM (10 children)
Um, no. It can be deployed by ANY President. Even the ones that come after Trump.
As long as it's not abused and used only for actual emergency notifications (aside from the hopefully rare test), what's the fucking problem? While the situations are rare when it's appropriate to get some kind of message out to everyone in the country, when it happens it's damn useful. I'm thinking of when all airplanes across the U.S. were grounded for several days after the 9/11 attacks -- sending that notice out via this method would be appropriate IMO.
Sheesh, cell phones have been around for decades, and there's been ONE test of this system. I'd suggest waiting to see how it's used, before bitching about it. But some people see "Trump" and they're instantly foaming at the mouth.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:54PM
First they came for my cellphone and I said nothing because cell phones are for kids. . .
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:54PM
There are Many Problems With Mobile Privacy but the Presidential Alert Isn’t One of Them [eff.org]
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1047562087059341312 [twitter.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @10:02PM (2 children)
Don't want to hear from any president poking a message at my phone, now or later, daytime or night time. Who cares if all the planes are grounded, anyone that is actually scheduled to fly at that time will find out soon enough, if nothing else their airlines will notify the actual people that are affected. Have you got a better example for why any president should be able to address everyone in the country (when we have no useful way to send messages back)?
Here's a logical extension to show you what this means. I was in S. Korea on a beach in the 1980s and there was a string of loudspeakers (big PA horns) blasting propaganda 24/7. I think they were partly there to keep everyone aware that spies from the north could be swimming or kayaking in at any time (this was common back then), but when I asked it was mostly about how great the current national leadership was doing. I asked our host how he dealt with the constant barrage and he shrugged, said that he sort of tuned it out.
Now with this alert system and the ability to broadcast to any phone, we have the potential of the same kind of yammering, without the government even needing to maintain a PA system--the phone companies will maintain their networks on their own.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Sunday October 07 2018, @06:54AM (1 child)
Owning a cell phone is not a right.
(Score: -1) by fakefuck39 on Monday October 08 2018, @11:25PM
owning one is not a right, but being able to own one is a right. also, finishing 3rd grade to get that sweet basic reading comprehension is a right. you should take advantage of that before spewing random garbage that has nothing to do with what you're replying to.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday October 06 2018, @10:08PM (2 children)
When a Jehovah's Witness knocks on your door, you are free to invite them in for a chat, take their pamphlet politely and round file it after they leave, tell them to fuck off. It is their right to present an idea to you, and yours to decide whether to engage or not engage to varying degrees.
The presidential alerts don't give you that choice. You can't disable them like Amber Alerts. You are required to acknowledge you have received it before your device is returned to your use which is a type of forced speech. I think the analogy to the loudspeaker truck case, where people are forced to engage with the Jehovah's Witness or President or candidate or whoever, is pretty apt. People have the right to freely convey their ideas, but people also have the right to reject those ideas and choose to ignore them -- speakers do not have the right force people to hear them -- that is unless you have a phone that will receive Presidential alerts.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday October 06 2018, @11:46PM (1 child)
I was able to use mine, but I don't use it for anything other than as a phone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @09:53PM
It just pops up as a text notification that looks like a regular text message except with a different colored border and maybe a silly little seal to show it is official.
While this is a nuisance it is really just a further example of how much control Americans have given up over their devices as well as their government, and since neither seems likely to change in my lifetime it is looking more and more like the time to part ways.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @01:29AM (1 child)
One word: Hawaii.
"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday October 07 2018, @06:06AM
Thank you, Anonymous. So many folks don't get it. You get it. My Presidential Alerts are for my MOST IMPORTANT messages. The ones I want ALL AMERICANS -- all Americans that have Cell Phones -- to get. About the nuclear, about ISIS, about Hurricane & Earthquake. Alt-left violence, BIE riots. Flu. And, test messages. We did a test message this week, it was tremendous. And it's going to be mostly test messages.
Not, Sushi Nakazawa opened up at Trump International Hotel. The best seafood, beautiful gold decor. Not, we got two great guys, the best guys, on SC, big victory over Dems. Not, get out and VOTE on Nov. 6th..
I call it my Presidential Alerts. But, they're an Obama thing. He was a DISASTER for our Country. And he wanted everyone to know. His message was, here I am, here come the disasters. So his people came up with the Alerts. And possibly, I'll never need them. I have 150 million followers on Social Media, they love my VERY POSITIVE message. And we're going to have a lot less disasters than we had with Obama. Very successful negotiations with Chairman Kim -- frankly, we fell in love with each other. And North Korea will be denuking very soon. And, big victories over ISIS -- which, by the way, Obama is the founder of (and Crooked H is the co-founder). Big victories over ISIS, we helped Syria & Iraq to win Mosul and Raqqa. And ISIS, basically it's a nothing now. Because of me!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:50PM
It'll be interesting to see how a majority Republican bench deals with an issue like this. #BrettWins
(Score: 5, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday October 06 2018, @09:58PM
At first I was thinking "wtf" but on reading the complaint, it makes sense -- see paragraphs 20 & 21 at the second link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bNkhKVRAFFMrGBqib_fUVsq7b0uteyCv/preview [google.com]
Paragraph 20 cites Kovacs v. Cooper: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/336/77/ [justia.com]
And also Martin v. Struthers: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/319/141.html [findlaw.com]
(Score: 2) by chewbacon on Sunday October 07 2018, @01:42AM
...would be the first whiney fucks to sue the government in the aftermath of a disaster because they weren't warned.
They should get their heads out of whatever warm, dark place it's in.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @02:01AM (2 children)
Second, there are existing grounds for use of such messaging systems contrary to assertion. In addition to existing public warning systems, we also have sirens on emergency and police vehicles. These all reach into private property by design whether it be your TV or car.
My view is that first, one would need to show a pattern of abuse. Obviously, if the phone gets used for obnoxious political tweets rather than its announced intent, that's good enough. Or if it is extended somehow to get intrusive information (like who acknowledges the alert message when and where).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:16AM (1 child)
We have amber alerts, which are an attempt to conscript the public in a police investigation. Strangers in vans snatching children is practically an urban legend, and custody disputes do not constitute public emergencies.
Why can't we receive something non-political that affects everybody in a certain geographical area like NOAA weather warnings (the kind that civil defense sirens would be activated for like tornadoes) using this channel? Why should we permit the executive branch further interference in our lives? How will you like it if we start getting "Russian hacker" alerts at 2 AM from a future Democratic Party president?
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday October 08 2018, @03:18PM
Tell that to the families of Amber Hagerman or Polly Klaas.
I agree with you that a child custody abduction, when there is no reason to assume the child is actually in harm or danger, shouldn't trigger an Amber alert. But the 100 or so genuine abductions per year and 50 or so kids a year who die or never get home [pollyklaas.org] might make the system worthwhile. If it were used better. (Not to mention that Amber alerts generally require enough information about the kidnapper to be able to alert the public would cut the number down further).
If Russia (or any other country) pops off nukes at us, yes I want to know it over my phone no matter where in the country it is or extent of the attack. That's what this system was designed for. And if you think this possibility cannot happen then re-read the history of the cold war.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by YeaWhatevs on Sunday October 07 2018, @02:31AM
I don't know why I find that so funny, but if it happened I'm pretty sure I would die laughing.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Some call me Tim on Sunday October 07 2018, @02:43AM
As old as it is, I was expecting a message like "Just wanted to say good luck, we're all counting on you" or "So long and thanks for all the fish"! I was actually in Walmart when the message hit and I told one of the guys in electronics, take a look around at all the people staring at their phones. This is what the end of the world will look like.
Questioning science is how you do science!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by epitaxial on Sunday October 07 2018, @06:57AM (5 children)
two years when Obama was president. I can only imagine the praise he would receive for testing this warning system.
(Score: 2) by Username on Sunday October 07 2018, @10:56AM
The bravery Obama showed in the face of discrimination. Letting all those racist know, that no matter how much they hate him, he will be heard.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday October 07 2018, @06:07PM (3 children)
(Score: 1) by DeVilla on Tuesday October 09 2018, @03:09AM (2 children)
While trying to find an article critical of Obama creating these (and failing to find anything except for mild complaints of not being able to turn them off, I didn't try hard) I found the obligatory ...
https://xkcd.com/1435/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:30PM (1 child)
(Score: 1) by DeVilla on Tuesday October 09 2018, @06:47PM
Well I guess. I think the thread root comment was referring to how there is an article on CBS news about a lawsuit in New York suing FEMA focusing on the current President. I think while was suggesting that we would not have seen such a thing if this test had occurred with Obama in the Whitehouse.
From what I can tell, it appears there were some previous tests but no lawsuits. Again, I didn't look that hard.
In any case, I wouldn't compare the rants of the cranks on slashdot or here to what I see if I do a news search for "presidential alert lawsuit" on google. I have to say, I like the eff response though.
(Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:45PM (1 child)
Really, what is the the point of a "Presidential Alert"? What kind of message would there be that does not already fall under a national emergency?
Altert!: "My fellow Americans, I am currently taking a shit! Yes, on the pooper. Major diarrhea. Too many tacos. Must get that wall built."
At least with this president, we can rest assured any such message would be less than 140 characters :P
Next, will off switches be illegal?
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday October 08 2018, @03:54PM
You must have been born way past the cold war.
This sig for rent.