Australia

poorly planned

Have you been living under a rock? This messaging about the AusAlert test has been going on for a solid two months, on television, on radio, in printed media, and all over the internet.

The alert system utilises existing software in nearly every modern smartphone and it is used in plenty of countries around the world.

Japan uses it for earthquake alerts before the actual earthquake arrives.

States in the US use it for missing kid alerts - when they've just been noticed missing, right in that critical timeframe where they are easiest to find.

South Korea uses it for alerting when their North Korean neighbours are getting a bit antsy, and for other, less emergency-ish uses. When I was in South Korea during covid the local government would loudly broadcast daily infection numbers as an emergency alert, so I went into my phone's settings and turned it off

Of course, the Australian government won't mention how to turn it off because they want people to be aware of these alerts. But for people with hidden phones it's very important information to know, and I dislike that no mention of the ability to silence it has been made in media.

In Android, it's under Settings -> Safety and Emergency -> Wireless Emergency Alerts. You can turn off numerous sub-categories of emergency alerts in there.

In iPhone, it's in Settings -> Notifications -> Government Alerts/Enhanced Safety Alerts -> Again, you can turn off any categories you deem irrelevant.