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Lawmakers want to expand AMBER Alerts to US territories
Two US lawmakers have introduced legislation that would help expand the AMBER Alert system to all territories, which include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Established nationally in 2003, the system sends alerts over TV, radio, digital billboards and cellphones and has helped find more than 900 missing children across the US. "AMBER Alerts have helped save hundreds of children. There's no good reason for US territories to be excluded from this system," said Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), who introduced the bill along with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). "With this bill, we can help children and their families quickly end the nightmare that is child abduction."
FCC proposes ‘Blue Alert’ for threats against law enforcement
During their June Open Meeting today, the FCC adopted a proposal to add an alert to the US Emergency Alert System. If enacted, the Blue Alert would notify the public of ongoing threats to law enforcement in their area through broadcast, cable, satellite and wireline video outlets.
Everything you need to know about mobile Amber Alerts
At 2:38 PM on May 19th, 2017, my phone buzzed, emitting a high-pitched tone. So did the phone of my colleague Roberto Baldwin, who was standing with me inside a Starbucks near our office. Actually, all of the phones in that Starbucks buzzed at the same time, setting off a cacophony of synchronized alarms. An Amber Alert had just gone out for a missing 1-year-old child, last seen in a 2000 tan Toyota Corolla. Everyone in that Starbucks, and possibly the entire San Francisco Bay Area, saw the same message at the same time.
Wireless Emergency Alerts are about to get more detailed
The FCC has voted to strengthen the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, which sends warnings about missing children, natural disasters and other dangerous events directly to citizens' cell phones. The new rules allow government officials to write up to 360 characters, rather than 90, for 4G LTE and future networks, and it requires participating carriers to support the use of embedded phone numbers and links in all alerts. For example, in an AMBER Alert, the message may now include a link to a photo of the missing child.
Waze now alerts you to nearby child abductions
Waze is mostly meant to help you avoid traffic snarls and speed traps, but it's now performing a valuable public service. Effective immediately, the navigation app will notify you about AMBER Alerts for abducted children wherever you're driving. Stop for at least 10 seconds and you'll get details for both the victims and any vehicles they might be traveling in. It's a simple upgrade, but it could make all the difference if you spot a child or captor in time for police to stage a rescue. [Top image credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images]
Facebook will alert you when kids go missing in your area
Facebook will now show amber alerts in its news feeds to inform users about missing or abducted children. The social network launched the venture with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to deliver the information in specific, targeted search areas following an abduction. The alerts will appear on mobile devices and desktops with photos and other pertinent details, allowing you to share them with friends or link to the latest info. Facebook said it was inspired to add the alerts after missing children were recovered due to information posted independently by users. For instance, earlier this year a motel owner recognized an 11-year-old girl from such a post and helped police recover her unharmed.
Crying wolf: when emergency alerts stop being effective
Yesterday, I switched off all AMBER and Emergency iPhone Alerts in Settings > Notification Center. This followed a day and a night of flash flood warnings that started at 1 AM and continued until just after noon. [Erica is in Colorado, where recent wet weather has contributed to disastrous flooding. –Ed.] In that time, I counted eight individual Emergency Alerts issued by the National Weather Service in my personal notification center. These included alerts in the middle of the night; alerts as I was in office buildings; and alerts while I was waiting for appointments or having meetings. Since AT&T pushed out its Emergency Alert upgrade to support my iPhone 4S, I have received alerts for a variety of weather situations plus that abduction one from California. I cannot point to a single alert in my history that I considered necessary to receive on a phone rather than seeing on the TV or by hearing the local tornado alarms. I cannot customize the alerts I hear. It's all on or all off for AMBER and/or emergency items. These alerts are loud, scary, intrusive and blunt. I think my alert burnout is pretty human. When people get tired of alerts that aren't relevant, they're going to shut them off. Emergency alerts by their very nature should be few, important and effective. As is, they've become the spam of disaster preparedness. And I've just sent mine to my virtual alert spam folder. We posted a how-to on turning off your emergency alerts in July. Please consider the risks and benefits before changing this setting on your phone. –Ed.
AT&T issues Wireless Emergency Alerts update to iPhone 4S, 5
AT&T has begun rolling out Wireless Emergency Alerts updates for iPhone 4S and 5, so you won't be the last folks to know if the entire northern hemisphere is about to be covered in ice à la Day After Tomorrow. You'll receive a notification from the carrier when your update is ready, but only if you're using iOS 6.1 or higher. Once installed, AMBER and Emergency alerts are automatically sent to your phone unless you switch them off via Settings, but you can't disable Presidential alerts. WEA messages are always free of charge, so you don't have to worry about going over your texting limit when notified that you need to get the hell out of dodge.
AT&T Wireless subscribers to get emergency alerts on iPhone 4S and 5
AT&T today announced that subscribers who have either the iPhone 5 or 4S will begin receiving a software update which will enable their phones to receive Wireless Emergency Alerts. With Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) enabled, users will receive text alerts whenever an alert goes into effect. Note, though, that these alerts do not constitute text messages and therefore will not count against a user's data plan. There are three different types of WEA alerts a user might receive to his/her mobile device. AMBER Alert - An AMBER alert is sent when a child has been abducted and may be in the same surrounding area as the recipient. Imminent Threat Alert - This type of alert is sent to warn citizens of an impending disaster, weather or otherwise. The CTIA notes that this alert encompasses any event that poses an "imminent threat to life or property." Presidential Alerts - As the name implies, these are alerts sent straight from the President. AT&T notes that users who so choose can go toggle off WEA alerts. Note, however, that Presidential Alerts can never be turned off. Lastly, AT&T indicates that the aforementioned software update will be pushed out to iPhone devices running iOS 6.1 and higher.
Google adds AMBER Alerts for missing children to Search and Maps
In partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Google announced on Wednesday that it has added AMBER Alerts to its Search and Maps services for desktop and mobile devices. AMBER Alert notifications will be displayed for your local area or locations based off of web search content. Alerts will be updated as information becomes available, but may include case details such as a description of the abducted child and the make and model of their alleged abductor's vehicle. While this service is only available in the US, Google is working with Missing Children Europe and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in hopes of bringing similar services to more countries.
PLAN emergency alert system going mobile in NYC and DC this year, nationwide in 2012
If you live in the U.S., you've probably seen those anger-inducing emergency alert system test messages that interrupt your favorite programming on a weekly basis. Most of us have never seen the system used in an actual emergency, but come later this year, cell phone users in New York and Washington will have similar alerts pushed to their mobile devices -- presumably without the annoying weekly tests. Known as PLAN (Personal Localized Alerting Network), the free service will reportedly only work with smartphones (we're guessing the GPS comes into play here) on AT&T&T, Sprint and Verizon. The secure messaging network will likely display messages as notifications, rather than texts, and will push to all compatible devices within an affected area based on the phone's physical location, not just its mobile number. Local, state and federal officials will send notifications in response to disasters and other public safety threats, presidential announcements, and Amber Alerts. In other words: it'll only be used for actual emergencies, so don't expect updates on the whereabouts of your favorite captive reptile.
Amber Alert GPS 2G lets you track your kids with a text
Still haven't found a GPS tracker out there to suit your parenting needs? Then you might want to consider this new Amber Alert GPS 2G device, which, unlike some other similar products, is actually aimed specifically at parents, and promises to be straightforward enough for all parents to use. It's main feature, of course, is to simply act as a wearable GPS beacon for your kids, which parents can call or text at any time and instantly receive a text back with its location, or track at all times on the web. The device also takes things a bit further than most with a so-called "bread crumbing" feature that creates a trail of your child's route and alerts you when they reach their destination, and a safe zone feature that limits how far your child is able to travel. That peace of mind does exactly come cheap, however, with the device itself running $379.99, while the required monthly plans start at $9.99 and go up to $59.98.[Via Coolest Gadgets]
AMBER Alert comes to Kingston's Child ID USB flash drive
Similar to just about every other USB flash drive manufacturer out there, Kingston's renditions aren't any stranger to somewhat superfluous security layers, but the firm's latest thumb drive looks to keep your child safe by teaming up with AMBER Alert. While the kid-protecting service has already been available via SMS, the Child ID Kit allows users to upload a smorgasbord of information about a single child including photos, birthdate, hair / eye color, contact information, nicknames, and even fields for parents to explain gaudy tattoos and embarrassing piercings that should only be divulged when searching for a missing youngster. Sporting 512MB of internal storage, password protection, and obligatory encryption, paranoid guardians can snap up one (or more) now for $29.95 apiece. Still, we're not entirely convinced this ultra-modern edition of the milk carton splash will actually help you find missing kiddos any faster, but at least you won't be forced to go searching for their blood type at inopportune times.[Via Gadgets-Weblog]
