The IT Nerd

All this week, different parts of Canada have been running tests of the new Alert Ready emergency alert system that is supposed to alert you of anything from an Amber Alert (a missing child) to natural disasters. Alerts are supposed to show up on radio, TV, and as a notification on your phone, as was the case with your truly:

Well, it seems that I got the emergency test alert. FYI, I was driving and it showed up on @Apple CarPlay too. pic.twitter.com/unIZRosg1C

— The IT Nerd (@The_IT_Nerd) May 7, 2018

The problem is that I was one of the lucky ones apparently. Some people didn’t get the alert while the person next to them did. Here are some examples:

I think whether you received the emergency alert or not is governments way of telling you who they think will survive the apocalypse or not #emergencyalert

— Helen Escott (@hescott) May 9, 2018

I didn't get my #emergencyalert on my iphone6 with @Bell_Aliant and feel totally left out. 🙁

— Jodi Cooke (@Jodicookeskis) May 9, 2018

So I didn't get an #emergencyalert – I'm on a Rogers phone. Did anyone else?

— Amy Judd (@amyjudd) May 9, 2018

https://twitter.com/poor_choices/status/994308391366344704

And in the case of anyone in Quebec, nobody got the alert. Though that was due to an employee screw up. But what is clear is that this system which is supposed to keep the public safe doesn’t work. Thus I suspect that there will be a lot of explaining to do by those who put this together, and likely more tests. I for one hope that they get this sorted quickly as emergencies don’t wait until your systems are perfect before they hit you.

This entry was posted on May 10, 2018 at 8:50 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Canada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.