This absolutely is a user setting.
How far we've fallen from sharing the DeCSS flag, to arguing that users shouldn't have control over their devices, and governments and carriers should.
Namely, that it's created by a party / parties also subject to (and abiding by) these laws?
I'm not sure what you plan to do with this information; certainly a law-abiding supplier is more likely to remain in business, so perhaps it's indicative of a better chance of receiving long-term support for the device...
We need to get rid of those in power who decide on things they have no fucking clue about it. The easiest way to do that is to not just go vote, but educate everyone else about who is running and why they are/are not a good choice. The harder way is also (at least for the US folks) showing up and engaging at primary votes and holding the primary candidates accountable, which takes a lot more effort but has the advantage that your vote is amplified in its effects.
Smartphones are already locked down in a million other ways compared to eg a desktop Linux install. Why is this different?
It's not, but it's bad that smartphones are locked down like that, so we should be pushing back on it at every opportunity.
The EU legislation allows "opt out" from level 2/level 3 notifications, but is based on the notion that messages are received "without the need for the public to have to opt-in".
So for compliance sake, you're opted in. Maybe this should only happen the first time you enter EU or a member state, and then either your phone or cell service provider should remember your preference (which is probably not worth the resources to implement for the cell service provider, but maybe your phone already does?).
I'd be interested to see if this already exists, i.e. do you only need to opt out in Germany once? Does that opt-out at EU level?
When your wife disabled notifications, she merely opted out of notifications in whatever jurisdiction she was in (presumably US?), but opting out of something in US doesn't mean you opted out of every other similar law from every other nation state.
Hey, it's the law! You must comply, and for your convenience, your phone will do that automatically for you!
Good grief.
Companies will then be forced to make a decision based on the market size of your country. Or they will break the law, and you will have to deal with enforcement.
Most companies would like to do business in the EU.
And as we've seen time and time again, China can get away with a lot of bullshit with demands anywhere from tech to culture (e.g. MCU films that ended up censored). At least now, Apple has woken up and begun moving off production to Vietnam, and Marvel has decided to ignore Chinese demands after all.
But of course, that wouldn't be convenient, and a lot of people would be confused, and that would generate costly support calls, so they'd rather just violate the sanctity of the things we apparently don't really own and put intrusive hooks into "our" hardware and software.
In the case of this particular requirement -- that wireless alerts be enabled -- I would almost certainly just enable them and go about my day. But reaching into my device and changing things without my consent crosses a line.
You just need to sign a service level agreement along with paying for them to develop that feature and deploy it on your phone.
The people who have the power to make the phones vs the people who have the power to make laws and prevent the makers from selling, vs a few individuals who actually care and a large majority who do not have the time to care.
I’d love to vote with my wallet, but I live in a country that 90%+ votes against me, so my vote is meaningless.
Of course, you can liberate yourself quite a bit from the draconian rule of the manufacturer by rooting the device, but then you're also able to disable cell broadcasts permanently...
If you suffer from panic attacks, for example, and these alerts trigger them, they do not help you, no matter how well intended.
If you suffer from (C)PTSD, and these alerts trigger flooding, they actually make everything worse.
If this were to happen while you are driving, you might even cause an accident.
The world is sadly too complex for simple solutions that assume something to be always good or helpful.
Which is why I believe it's important for the user to eventually control his device.