Why am I getting Amber Alerts?

[Ermz]

I thought the Emergency Broadcast thingy is only supposed to be for life and death situations that might be directly impacting me? So why am I receiving Amber Alerts through it? I've gotten two in the last half hour, and they're for nowhere near where I am now. It's really aggravating that we can't opt out of these.

[WestCoasterBC · Accepted solution]

An amber alert is considered a “civil” emergency. It can be a localized or province wide alert, where the child went missing. I don’t think if it was a child or loved one you knew you’d find it annoying.

You can find more information here and here.

[mhinc]

I would really like to know why Telus is deleting legitimate posts regarding this new system?

Apparently, this is a sore spot?  It's pretty sad that when a valid point is brought up.  Telus covers it up and sweeps it under the rug.

VERY disconcerting at the least.

It's bad enough you support Bell and their dangerous website-blocking plans, but now you are treating your forum like a dictatorship.  

There was no foul language, obscenities, or offensive comments made in the posts that were deleted. Hence there was no reason to delete them.  

Some very valid points were made.  Including the issues, this system can and will cause.

How about instead of deleting posts you reply to them, that's how a forum works.  People raise concerns, bring up valid issues, and they expect the forum moderators to reply to said concerns.  

Going forward, I will be taking screenshots of every post made here.

Deleting the posts was wrong, it really shows what kind of company Telus is, children delete posts on Facebook.  Multi-Million Dollar companies should not fall into that same category...Grow up! 

[mhinc]

@ThirstyTurtle

I had a similar post to yours, that was deleted.  Obviously your mandated sleep due to your profession trumps me, but still, similar.  I work midnights.  I was awoken 3 times during the amber alert.  Once in English, 30 minutes later in French and then later on in the day when it was cancelled.

Geolocation put my 16 hours away from Thunderbay, yet I was still alerted.

Just take note your post will most likely be deleted, as my post as well as the others below me had very valid points.  @Nighthawk even posted an address you can go to voice your concerns to Alert Ready, which was also deleted.  See the link below, and I hope you get it before they delete it once again.

https://www.alertready.ca/#contact

As I said before.  This system and the way it's set up currently is going to do more harm than good.  What is going to happen when people at work in a meeting, teachers in calls teaching, movie theatres, plays, funerals! What is going to happen when this siren goes off while an elderly person that never uses their phone for anything but an emergency or to send the odd emoticon to their grandkids is driving, and it distracts them and they crash, with possible injury or death not only to them but others on the roads.

Amber Alerts are indeed important.  But NOT when we are sleeping and 16 hours away, or 1000KM like @ThirstyTurtle

I have no recourse to assisting in an Amber Alert while I am sleeping, so I deserve the right to my sleep and privacy with my device being on silent.

Again I have taken screenshots of these new posts, and I will be turning them over to the CRTC and raising a VERY large concern as well as posting them elsewhere, where Telus is not able to delete them.  I strongly suggest you, Telus, respond with what plans you have to deal with said complaints, rather than thinking these concerns will just go away when you delete them.  You have a responsibility to your paying customers to acknowledge these valid concerns!

[NFtoBC]

@mhinc

  I recall, this thread, was there another?

[NFtoBC]

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@ThirstyTurtle wrote:

Did Telus and the other 2 telecoms take situations like this into account when they came up with this idea? Why do we not have the right to control the volume on Amber Alerts? 

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The telecoms didn’t come up with the idea, in fact, they resisted it. Place blame at the feet of the correct agency.

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This could be very dangerous for people in my occupation or others like surgeons, bus drivers, engineers who depend on having a proper sleep to function on the job at 100%. 

Many of the folks in these professions have their sleep interrupted in many ways, including bladder pressure. Alerts are expected to be rare. Historically, there have been fewer than 6 Amber Alerts in Canada per year.

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Amber Alerts should not override the user's volume settings, period! What help can I offer anyway if I am fast asleep in bed? If the alert was silent, I could read it when I woke up. I'm not going to be of any assistance in my bedroom. Also, I was over 1000 km away from the child's last location. Major fixing of this system is needed.

This particular alert could have been managed better. There should have been a single alert, with both languages, properly zoned for the incident. Rescinding the alert should have been silent, without question. 

My guess is that this alert had wider distribution than would normally be the case because of the failure of wide distribution of the initial test. Though an Amber Alert, it was also used to confirm operation of the system, rather than multiple tests being done.

Complaints about the system should be sent to the CRTC, as the carriers have no choice but to deliver the program devised by the regulatory agency.

[rc]

The answer to why you are getting amber alerts is that the CRTC (Government ) mandate it. The individual mobile phone companies recommended that amber alerts be option all but the the government thought it was important.

Direct your complaints to the CRTC or as a lot of people in Ontario did, the OPP.

If you don't want to receive alerts turn off LTE

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mobile-emergency-alert-system-amber-alert-1.4662609

[WestCoasterBC]

CRTC has mandated all carriers provide the alert system. Complaining to Telus will do nothing. As they’re governed by the CRTC.

It’s on you the consumer(s) to complain to the government body the CRTC period. There was an entire process for public opinion which like most Canadians did nothing to voice their concerns.

[Nighthawk]

@ThirstyTurtle - You might have missed it on the news but Americans got the alerts when in Canada also. The American carriers only give you the option to opt out in the USA. Canada is different and you will still get the notifications. You want to avoid them entirely? Buy an unlocked phone like a OnePlus or shut off LTE entirely and run on 3G. The American carriers also are very strict with international roaming to Canada, and unless you spend a large majority of the time in the USA, they will cut you off.

Ultimately, if you want to waste your time and complain to any of the cell carriers in Canada, go ahead. If you want to really make your voice heard, complain where it counts > https://www.alertready.ca/#contact

[Nighthawk]

Cell service is not even comparable to a restaurant. The CRTC forces the carriers to display the alerts, period. The CRTC controls how this operates. They have not, and still refuse to, listen to complaints the carriers. Tens of thousands of direct complaints by consumers to the CRTC on the other hand will be harder for them to ignore. Choose your battles wisely. If you are a pilot, you must be familiar with the FAA and their regulations, yes? Do you complain to your employer over decisions made by the FAA?

Again, even if you have an American cell plan, you WILL still get the alerts when in Canada.

[mhinc]

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@ThirstyTurtle wrote:

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@Nighthawk wrote:

@ThirstyTurtle - The American carriers also are very strict with international roaming to Canada, and unless you spend a large majority of the time in the USA, they will cut you off.

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I am in the United State multiple times each week, as I work for an airline as a pilot. I also live in Fort Erie Ontario, right across the river from Buffalo, where I very easily pick up signals for the US towers. Roaming quotas they have in place will not affect me at all.

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Ha!  I am in Fort Erie as well @ThirstyTurtle

[Lola]

I'm just gonna wiggle into this mess and say that if you guys @mhinc @ThirstyTurtle are on Android (I have an S7 in BC) you can disable alerts by going to your message folder, settings, scroll to the bottom, you should see "Emergency alert settings," go in there and toggle off all alerts. All of mine were on by default, including Amber Alerts.

Alert alarms override Do Not Disturb, but do not override silent mode.

As for using the "what if it was your child" rhetoric, that's emotional, not logical. You cannot force people to care about an incident that does not involve them. People have lives, they need sleep, they're ill in bed ( a person recovering from cancer surgery, for example, may not want shrieking alerts that don't involve them, or even ones that do), etc. Making people angry does not make those people care--it does the opposite.

[mhinc]

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@Lola wrote:

I'm just gonna wiggle into this mess and say that if you guys @mhinc @ThirstyTurtle are on Android (I have an S7 in BC) you can disable alerts by going to your message folder, settings, scroll to the bottom, you should see "Emergency alert settings," go in there and toggle off all alerts. All of mine were on by default, including Amber Alerts.

Alert alarms override Do Not Disturb, but do not override silent mode.

As for using the "what if it was your child" rhetoric, that's emotional, not logical. You cannot force people to care about an incident that does not involve them. People have lives, they need sleep, they're ill in bed ( a person recovering from cancer surgery, for example, may not want shrieking alerts that don't involve them, or even ones that do), etc. Making people angry does not make those people care--it does the opposite.

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Hey Lola,

Thanks!  Unfortunately I don't use the Stock S8 Messaging App. I use Textra.  And apparently there is no option to disable within Textra currently.

And as for your second part.  Well said!

Cheers

[Lola]

@mhinc-- Hopefully you get an override update sooner than later. Keep messaging the developers for one. I'm far too lazy for most apps. LAZY. If my default ain't broke, I use it.

[rc]

On my phone, running Android 8.1, I can selectively enable or disable the following emergency alerts, Amber,  extreme  threats, severe threats.

Maybe some with a apple phone could comment 

[Nighthawk]

Apple? Not on my iPhone  running iOS 11. Only in the US is Apple allowing users the option to disable two specific alerts allowed by the FCC. Since in Canada all alerts are required by the CRTC, Apple is not giving Canadian iOS users any options.

[mhinc]

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@Lola wrote:

@mhinc-- Hopefully you get an override update sooner than later. Keep messaging the developers for one. I'm far too lazy for most apps. LAZY. If my default ain't broke, I use it.

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Ya, I just can't handle the stock messaging App, just doesn't do it for me, I see a lot of people pushing Textra already to have the option.  Their developers aren't a contact away, it's required to place everything on a forum, quite upsetting, especially when I paid for it.

[rc]

@mhinc

The developers of Textra may not be interested in solving the problem as they may view it as a Samsung only problem that may be fixed when Samsung upgrades devices to Android 8, or 9.  The reason I say  this is that on stock  Android, emergency alerts are enabled / disabled in settings not the messenger app.   Settings -> Apps & Notifications -> Advanced -> Emergency Alerts.

As a work around you could probably disable the alerts function via the Samsung messenger app.  You should only need to do this once, or at least after an upgrade or restore.

[Lola]

@mhinc-- I just read an article this morning about the mess of this Amber Alert, and how people were furious and inundated cops and 911 with angry calls because they got not one or two, but four alerts in both languages. The official said the alerts should not have been sent as far off as they were, and they'll be rethinking what alerts they send and to where, and may remove Amber Alerts given the backlash. He said, as I did earlier, making people angry is defeating the purpose. So there's hope we'll get change as they prove their system faultier and faultier.

[NFtoBC]

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@ThirstyTurtle wrote:

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No, I will direct my complaint to you, Telus, as you are the one providing me the service and taking my money. It's on you to then turn to the government to let them know that your customers are not happy with their policy.

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You realize this Neighbourhood is inhabited by customers, just like you? The participants here have no insight to Telus business plans, and no connection to the internal workings of Telus. We volunteer to share knowledge about Telus products and services which we have gained by experience or surmise. You might as well shout from your doorstep as expect rants on this platform will result in direct action by Telus.

On the fora I frequent, more are asking how to be included than excepted - thus the need for folks like you to contact the CRTC or your MP directly. 

[devicemodder]

I got it the other day as well. I was driving at the time, picking some stuff up for my boss. I almost had a car accident because of the siren on my phone going off. Like many others in this thread, I live nowhere near the area of the amber alert so I am unable to do anything. Really annoying and I am thinking of lodging a complaint with the CRTC.