{"id":2844,"date":"2018-10-03T20:11:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T20:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/trump-alert-us-mobile-phone-owners-get-test-message\/"},"modified":"2018-10-03T20:11:41","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T20:11:41","slug":"trump-alert-us-mobile-phone-owners-get-test-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/trump-alert-us-mobile-phone-owners-get-test-message\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Trump alert&#8217;: US mobile phone owners get test message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"People look at their text alert at Madison Square Park in Manhattan, New York\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/176CD\/production\/_103694959_mediaitem103694958.jpg\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">More than 200 million US mobile phones have received a test &#8220;Presidential Alert&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The trial is designed to check that a previously unused emergency communications system works properly.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike other alerts &#8211; such as natural disaster warnings &#8211; there was no way to opt out, except switching a device off or blocking its cellular connection.<\/p>\n<p>Some have described the test as a &#8220;Trump Alert&#8221; &#8211; but the US leader was not personally involved in the trial.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the nationwide event is being run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which would also be in direct control of the system if a real alert was ordered by the US President, Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>It is intended to be used to warn of major threats, including:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">missile attacks<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">acts of terrorism<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">natural disasters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The alert produced a tone and showed a notification saying: &#8220;THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was being broadcast from mobile phone masts for about 30 minutes from 14:18 ET (19:18 BST) &#8211; with devices displaying only a single message.<\/p>\n<p>The test was mandated under a 2015 law that said one must be run at least once every three years.<\/p>\n<p>It was originally scheduled for September but was delayed in order to avoid any confusion while Hurricane Florence response efforts were continuing in North and South Carolina.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Legal challenge<\/h2>\n<p>Congress has placed limits on when the president can trigger such a warning, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/114th-congress\/senate-bill\/1180\/text\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">saying it must relate to a natural or man-made disaster or public safety threat<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, there was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacermonitor.com\/public\/case\/25801360\/Nicholas_et_al_v_Trump_et_al\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">a last-minute effort to block the test<\/a> and wider use of the Presidential Alert system.<\/p>\n<p>A journalist, a breastfeeding advocate and a fitness instructor teamed up to sue Fema, claiming the technology was a violation of their rights to be free from &#8220;government-compelled listening&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The legal action alleged that the test could be &#8220;traumatic&#8221; to children and that the system was open to abuse.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Officials &#8211; including [President] Trump &#8211; are free to define &#8216;act of terrorism&#8217; and &#8216;threat to public safety&#8217; as they see fit, potentially broadcasting arbitrary, biased, irrational and\/or content-based messages to hundreds of millions of people,&#8221; the legal action claimed.<\/p>\n<p>However, a New York judge refused the request at a hearing on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Others have used social media to complain about and mock the trial. Several have noted that anyone wanting to know the president&#8217;s thoughts can turn to Twitter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"social-embed\">\n<div class=\"social-embed-post social-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"embed embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"embed-region\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Twitter post by @MADmagazine\">\n            <a class=\"off-screen jump-link\" href=\"#jump-linkhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/MADmagazine\/status\/1047493361723105280\">Skip Twitter post  by @MADmagazine<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-wrap\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The first \u201cPresidential Alert\u201d will be sent to every American\u2019s phone today. Minutes later you will also get 250 million texts saying \u2018Sounds great!\u201d from people who pressed reply all.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MAD Magazine (@MADmagazine) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MADmagazine\/status\/1047493361723105280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p class=\"off-screen\" id=\"jump-linkhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/MADmagazine\/status\/1047493361723105280\" tabindex=\"-1\">End of Twitter post  by @MADmagazine<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"social-embed\">\n<div class=\"social-embed-post social-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"embed embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"embed-region\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Twitter post by @intotheairwaves\">\n            <a class=\"off-screen jump-link\" href=\"#jump-linkhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/intotheairwaves\/status\/1047528035535278080\">Skip Twitter post  by @intotheairwaves<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-wrap\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m turning my phone off before this test alert thing happens. I\u2019d rather have that U2 album still on my phone than a \u201cmandatory presidential alert\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rachel Ford (@intotheairwaves) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intotheairwaves\/status\/1047528035535278080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p class=\"off-screen\" id=\"jump-linkhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/intotheairwaves\/status\/1047528035535278080\" tabindex=\"-1\">End of Twitter post  by @intotheairwaves<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>But in response, others have highlighted that the system was developed and put in place during the presidencies of George W Bush and Barack Obama.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, after two previous alert system errors &#8211; the first involving a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-42677604\" class=\"story-body__link\">false alarm about a missile attack<\/a> on Hawaii, the second involving a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2018\/10\/femas-wireless-alert-test-testing-public-trust\/571861\/\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">presidential proclamation about Senator John McCain&#8217;s death<\/a> being sent to the wrong people &#8211; there is an argument that the technology needs to undergo regular public tests if it is to be relied on.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-45730367\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Reuters More than 200 million US mobile phones have received a test &#8220;Presidential Alert&#8221;. The trial is designed to check that a previously unused emergency communications system works properly. Unlike other alerts &#8211; such as natural disaster warnings &#8211; there was no way to opt out, except switching a device off or blocking &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}