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Every phone in UK to sound ’emergency alarm’ on April 23rd

23 Mar 2023 2 minute read
The Cabinet Office have insisted the alert will not reveal anyone’s location or collect personal data.

A new public alert system will be tested on St George’s Day which will cause mobile phones across the UK to sound a siren-like emergency warning.

Once phone users receive the warning, which will be accompanied by a loud alarm and vibration, they will be locked out of using any of the devices features until they acknowledge the alert on Sunday 23rd April.

The new emergency alert system has been modelled based on similar schemes in the US and Canada and has been designed to notify the public should their life be in danger such as during severe weather related events, fire or terrorist attack.

The UK Government has so far tested the warning system in East Sussex and Reading over the past year, but now plans to conduct a nationwide test on all comparable phones – which will sound even if the phone is on silent.

Warning

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden said: “We are strengthening our national resilience with a new emergency alerts system, to deal with a wide range of threats – from flooding to wildfires.

“It will revolutionise our ability to warn and inform people who are in immediate danger, and help us keep people safe.

“As we’ve seen in the US and elsewhere, the buzz of a phone can save a life.”

People can opt out from receiving the emergency alert by disabling it in their device settings but the UK Government hope mobile phone users keep the alert system active in the event of an emergency.

The alerts are free to receive and will include the area affected by a possible emergency and provide details on what to do next.

The Cabinet Office have insisted the alert will not reveal anyone’s location or collect personal data.

The executive director for flood and coastal erosion risk management at the Environment Agency, said: “Being able to communicate warnings in a timely and accurate manner during incidents is really important to help people take action to protect themselves, their families, and their neighbours.”


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Glen
Glen
1 year ago

Preparing us for the coming war with Russia.

Kerry Davies
Kerry Davies
1 year ago
Reply to  Glen

If it is anything like Canada where a mate gets local missing child alerts at 3 am there’ll be a lot of phones flying out of a lot of windows.

John Brooks
John Brooks
1 year ago

Mine won’t. If switched off emergency alerts in my settings.

Sorgina
Sorgina
1 year ago
Reply to  John Brooks

So did I, but since I read that some alerts may override this, I intend to bury my phone and tablet deep in a bag on the planned date, place it in a room I don’t normally use, and close the door.

Karl
Karl
1 year ago

So further police state of our lives. Where is the freedom in this. Just because English governments are war mongering and out to argue with as many countries as possible

Brechdan Wncomunco
1 year ago
Reply to  Karl

They are not arguing with the countries of NATO I think you are the problem. Your comment suggests that the UK are aggressors.

Lord Montague Flange.
Lord Montague Flange.
1 year ago

The UK have actively encouraged further aggression and done very little towards peace talks, I’d keep off the cool aid if I were you?

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