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Comment by antr | Hacker News Reader

c'mon, people have smartphones. companies like facebook, twitter, foursquare, etc know your location and should be able to push notifications alerting people to stay away/at home.

EDIT: Thanks for the downvotes guys, here I was trying to show a real need. I've been calling friends in NY/Boston the past 30min asking to see if they are OK + stay at home.

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Such a system already exists: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts-wea

Alerts can be sent out to particular geographic areas by restricting the cell towers they are distributed through, and "many providers have chosen to transmit WEAs using a technology that is separate and different from voice calls and SMS text messages. This technology ensures that emergency alerts will not get stuck in highly congested areas, which can happen with standard mobile voice and texting services."

The bar an alert has to clear to go out over it is very high, however, to avoid people being desensitized by false alarms.

I can guess as to why you're being downvoted.

Capitalization. Nonsensical reference to corporations that has nothing to do with this event. Lack of domain knowledge regarding already existing FCC notification systems. Random mention of New York, which is neither geographically proximal to Boston nor affected by this event.

EDIT: I know there's a statement regarding NY being "on alert" but there is no indication they have any reason to do so, or are doing so in reaction to anything.

Strangely enough, iPhones do have an ability to receive geographic-targeted alerts like this. I've seen them used for severe weather warnings.

They look like this — http://i.imgur.com/gWrDXFD.jpg

Most current (~2012) cellphones do in the US, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Mobile_Alert_System

(I'm unclear on how these are delivered within the network, seems to be SMS but I can't source that)

I was in Hawaii 2 weeks ago, and they were broadcasting these types of alerts to my girlfriend's phone (Android 4), to warn about a risk of flash floods. Android was even using text-to-speech to read the alert out loud, and automatically, which woke us up during the night!

Think how exactly the alerts happen is up to the OEM, beyond 'loud noise'. The iPhone uses something similar to the EBS tone in 1s bursts (it was 1AM when mine fired, so I can't say with certainty if it was the same tone or not). I've heard similar from other Android users, but I've shut off the alerts on all my phones since.

It's SMS-CB with some magic numbers to activate the Text To Speech and alarms https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/opt/tel...

All phones have the ability to get broadcast SMS messages based on the cell tower they're connected to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_Broadcast

I started getting them sometime within the last year. Weather warnings and amber alerts. I always assumed that I started getting these as a result of some change in the Android software, but maybe it was a change in policy somewhere?

Google Now also has emergency alerts

I received an Amber Alert for a girl from Philadelphia a few months ago on this system (or a similar one). It was surreal being in a restaurant and hearing over a dozen phones go off almost simultaneously.

I received one in Pittsburgh for that alert for Philadelphia.

I think they got all of PA, MD, NJ and the DC area as it was close to 3 hours after the incident that they sent it out.

I did not get an amber alert, and I am in Boston. Maybe due to the cell signal jamming to stop any additional detonations. I had to call family from Google Voice on my laptop to get in touch. Pretty crazy

Just to clarify, Amber Alerts are a specific type of these emergency alerts and are used for missing children.

I haven't heard about whether emergency SMS were sent out for the Boston bombings.

I wonder about the legal implications of providing a service like that. Lets say Facebook started an emergency alert system based on geographical data. What happens if they report a false emergency? What happens if they fail to report a real emergency? Would they be liable if they did not respond with their alerts in a timely manner?

I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know, but if people came to rely on an emergency alert system that was not reliable... I would get nervous to say the least. Look at the bad press Google and Apple get whenever their maps lead someone into danger.

Emergency alert systems have been mandated by the federal government in one for or another (radio, TV, etc) for decades. With an increasing number of people no longer watching live TV or radio (due to DVRs and the Internet) it makes sense to mandate a new channel for emergency alerts in case of severe weather, etc., which is exactly what Congress does.

I don't think the objective is "perfect" targeting and delivery. The intent is to message as many people as possible within an affected area as quickly, as possible. IANAL, but I suspect it would be very difficult to hold companies liable if the service doesn't work properly - for one thing, it's not a service you're expressly paying them for, it's something they're doing as a public service.

Thanks for the downvotes guys, here I was trying to show a real need. I've been calling friends in NY/Boston the past 30min asking to see if they are OK + stay at home.

Even paid for Facebook's promote service to get the word out that other devices are being "detected" and that the issue can extent to NY.

NY on alert via Reuters: https://twitter.com/reuters > Paul Browne, NYPD Deputy Commissioner, tells Reuters that in response to #BostonMarathon, NY police stepping up security #breaking

And NY? Just curious, what makes you say that? Haven't seen that reported anywhere.

I'm following Reuters

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/323882328655028224

>Paul Browne, NYPD Deputy Commissioner, tells Reuters that in response to #BostonMarathon, NY police stepping up security #breaking

Yeah, cell phones are useless in a disaster situation. The networks are totally overloaded.

That's one of the reasons I use Republic Wireless (I'm just a customer and not affilated in any way) - my cell phone can route calls over any open WiFi hotspot it can find.

cell phone networks are swamped in the area.

Reports that people in the area are being advised not to use cell phones as they may trigger other devices.

Who knows is it's really being advised or if it makes sense if it is, but it's being reported as if it is.

Boston cellular networks have been shut down to prevent remote bomb detonations according to an update on the OP news article.

When I lived in Washington DC I had this service.

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