Emergency notifications from the white house

[ProdigalHorn]

The Link

Full disclosure, it's my understanding this is coming from legislation that was passed five years ago, although I don't know if the specifics of the current plan originated then or with this administration.

Having said that, does anyone else see some issues with this? It's supposed to alert people in the event of terrorist threats and things like that, and the Times Square bomb is the instance the administration is pointing to in order to say how we could have handled situations better with this technology.

Does anyone not think that a mass text message to every cell phone in Times Square would not have created a mass panic and stampede resulting in multiple injuries and possibly deaths? Not to mention the creepy notion that the government can pre-empt a browser session or have full access to send you a message whenever it wants?

I just think this causes a lot more problems than it solves.

 

[JohnnyM]

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[ProdigalHorn]

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[JohnnyM]

I understand where you're coming from and this certainly has more room for abuse/misuse/unintended panic than a weather warning system. I just don't think it's enough to scratch it completely from the onset. I am sure there will be a learning curve, as there is with anything. I am sure that some of the first people to hear a tornado siren freaked the f*** out!!

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[ProdigalHorn]

And just to be clear, I'm not opposed to the general idea, just not really sure how it is going to actually be rolled out. There are certain ways that it can probably done responsibly. Without knowing that, it's hard to say.

In terms of the messages not saying "there's a bomb in such and such building", the problem is that if the messages are going to be as concise as they need to be (I think I read 90 characters or less), I see issues.

Here's what I think would be useful - if you used the system to SUPPLEMENT efforts on the ground. Obviously that's a great way to make sure that the entire crowd surrounding the area gets up to date information. But I do think crowd management and control is a real issue, and they would need to think carefully about the timing of those announcements.

What I don't want to see is all that nonsense about the "threat level" going up a notch, or that we are in "heightened alert" in a general way.

 

[JohnnyM]

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[brntorng]

It could be a useful system if designed to target specific locations based on the GPS location of the phone. For example, today it could have warned me to avoid Obama's motorcade through the middle of Austin at rush hour while he was here to raise campaign funds and stiff Texas' request for emergency funds for all the wild fire damage.

 

[A. BETTIK]

Terror alerts today and incumbant presidential campaign dictates tomorrow.