Mobile Civil Protection alerts: resolving doubts

A few hours ago, the citizens of the Community of Madrid have received a message from Civil Protection which alerted, in Spanish and English, about the risks associated with the red alert currently in force in the center of the peninsula as a result of the expected heavy rains, predictions in which the Community of Madrid and Toledo take the lead. worst part, but they threaten a good part of the peninsula and the Balearic archipelago. Thus, and before going into the matter, the first thing is to ask the population of the affected areas to be very careful and to wish that the consequences of the precipitations are as mild as possible.

But not, the reason for this news is not to talk about DANA that is plaguing a good part of the country, but rather the enormous amount of noise that has been produced, and is still being produced, as a result of a message that, as I indicated at the beginning, has been received by the vast majority of people who They are currently in Madrid. A message that has sparked controversy for various reasons, mainly for two.

The first thing, before getting into the heart of the matter, is to remember that this Civil Protection alert message is not something that should take us by surprise since, as we told you at the time, the population was promptly informed, just as you can remember in this newsof the tests of the system of warnings to the population, in a final phase before completing its implementation, which is already a reality for several months. In said article we already explained how it worked, but since the reality that has occurred today has shown that many people are still unaware of it, it is appropriate to review these points.

⚠️ Es-ALERT message ⚠️

From #ASEM112 We have sent an alert to all mobile phones in the region with the basic recommendations for the #DANA.

Please take heed of them. #Madrid112 #INUNCAM #IsAlert #storm#DANASeptember pic.twitter.com/oQVTJMOEJV

— 112 Community of Madrid (@112cmadrid) September 3, 2023

As I said, Civil Protection has issued an emergency message that has resonated in a good part of Android and iOS phones, an alarm that is limited to specific geographical areas. And this point is relevant to part of the doubts and complaints of many people on social networks, especially on X (formerly Twitter): these messages are not sent to specific people or numbers, but to mobile phone antennas, which broadcast them to everyone. the terminals currently connected to them.

To understand us, Civil Protection, in this specific case ASEM 112 (Madrid Security and Emergency Agency), has not sent a message to Manolo Fulanito and María Menganita, nor to particular telephone numbers. No, the emergency management system determines the areas affected by them, selects all cell towers in the affected area and issues a mass broadcast message. Thus, people’s privacy is not being violated by this system, just as it happens if we listen to a message that is broadcast through a local public address system.

I have been surprised to see from politicians to journalists, and across the ideological spectrum, questioning this point and this systemaffirming that we are facing a kind of Orwellian policy, that the Government has a back door to reach our phones… in short, I do not doubt that there are surveillance and control systems, as well as advanced tools for such purposes, but from there to qualifying an emergency notification system as an indoctrination and espionage tool… in short, there is a long way to go.

To make it even clearer, Civil Protection messages are used making use of the cell broadcast function, which is part of the cell phone standards from the second generation (GSM) and which, as far as we are concerned, occupies, stands out for being an unconfirmed push service, so the sender of the message will never know which users have received it. There is no threat to privacy, in the same way that a radio station cannot know that we are listening to it when we tune it into a receiver.

Which brings me to another point, also very important, that has been questioned, the universal scope of messages of this type. An immediate interpretation, made by people to whom I recognize that I attributed a greater intellectual solvency, have affirmed that this is a tool at the service of the Government, that it can use it to send messages to the entire population, even when members of it are in against receiving it. That is to say, they have assumed that these messages are received yes or yes, which is wrong.

As we already told last October, the two mobile operating systems allow you to activate or deactivate the reception of alert messages from Civil Protection. And for those who wish to check their current configuration and, if they wish, modify it, I remember what we said then, and which is still fully valid:

• Android: access the settings and look, in settings, for a section dedicated to wireless alerts, broadcast settings, cell broadcast or similar. When accessing it, you will see the types of alerts that you can activate and deactivate. Adjust them at will.

• iOS: in the Apple system you will have to access Settings, then Notifications and, in that section, scroll to the end (you will have to go through all the apps you have installed) until you find the ES-ALERT section, in which It will show the entry “Civil Protection Pre-Alerts”, which you can activate and deactivate, according to your preference.

Personally, and as a person who was very close to being swept away by a flood along with his family, in a sudden flood that completely flooded what until then had been his home, you will understand that My recommendation to everyone is to keep these alerts on.. On that occasion I/we were saved by a miracle, but it was a matter of seconds, while the possibility of having received a message, a few minutes in advance, would have been much safer.

Another controversy surrounding the Civil Protection alert message has to do with its stridency. In this regard, I have to admit that it is something truly scandalousin my case it has sounded simultaneously on the two smartphones that I use regularly, and I would be a liar if I denied that I had a good scare, and not because of the content of the notice, since I was already quite well informed about it beforehand, but because the audible alarm is really forceful.

Thus, I perfectly understand that there are people who have felt annoyed by it, although I also understand that these types of messages have such a strident format. After all, let’s not forget, they are warnings of an emergency situation, of a risk that seriously compromises our security, and depending on what type of circumstances, an immediate response can make a huge difference in the final consequences.

Would it make sense to be able to set some additional configuration settings for how we receive these types of messages? Perhaps, but we must bear in mind that they have been designed to maximize their effectiveness. Perhaps it would be less “aggressive” if its initial volume was lower and it increased? Probably, but in such a case it would be necessary to ponder until finding the sweet spot between “aggressiveness” and speed of reaction, that is to say, that in any case it should be a fairly rapid progression, and that is that we must think of emergencies in which the speed of answer will be decisive.

And one last controversy, minor but to which I have also found references, is that the notice has been issued in English. However, at this point it must be clarified that it has been sent in both languages, in Spanish and in English. Which again leads me to remember that these messages are disseminated massively, through cell diffusion, that is, the sender has no record of the native language of the person who receives it.

Let us remember that the Community of Madrid receives, throughout the year, a significant amount of international tourism, and that during their stay in Madrid (as in any other location in the country, if applicable) they must also be informed of these eventualities. I think that arguing on this point is not unnecessary, but frankly absurd.. It would be terrible if the message had only been sent in that language, of course, and in that case I would perfectly understand the anger but, as you can see in the image above, which is the one on my personal phone, there are two messages received, the one It shows at that moment on the screen, which is in English, along with the same but in Spanish.

Thus, and to summarize the essential (what in English is usually delimited with the now famous “TL: DR”), the Civil Protection messages are sent and received completely anonymouslydo not violate privacy, can be deactivated on Android and iOS (although I personally recommend not doing it) and, without a doubt, most important of all: if you find yourself in any of the areas affected by DANA, please be very careful.