The UK has announced that it will carry out its public emergency alerts later in the month. The national system is modeled on the schemes in Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States.
All across the UK people will receive siren-like warnings on their mobile phones providing information on how to stay safe in the situation of utmost emergency.
On 23rd April, there will be an explosion of ten seconds to test all four UK regions on how the security system will work.
It is a test that will ensure that this 10-second alarm even if the phone is on silent, disrupts the ongoing entertainment and sports event. Devices with 2G or 3G networks will likely not receive any alert.
Organizers of the World Snooker Championship will pause just before the alert and the Society of London Theatre has advised all the members and audience to turn off their mobile phones.
Drivers across the UK have been advised not to pick up any calls during the test and the ones who do not wish to be a part of the test can choose to opt out of their devices.
Such security tests are being carried out in many countries to ensure the safety and well-being of the people. It is to keep track of netizens when there is an emergency-like situation or a natural calamity.
Though the remarks for the same are positive in many ways it all sets out for backlash from the group of Conservatives, Charities, and People Interest Groups.
Conservatives believe that this will cause intrusion into the personal spaces of netizens and that it is a misuse of technology being used for just their motives. The former minister Jacob-Rees Mogg has mentioned that people must call off this decision of the government and refrain from intruding into their details. He also mentioned the state is back to the nanny state. Whereas the women’s charities have mentioned the concern of domestic violence, that women have second phones as their first-hand security in the case of utmost emergency and such an initiative l will cause a ruckus amongst the victims, further creating more problems for them. Many state MPs have also shown their disinterest in the decision to collaborate with Japan for a lucrative IT contract for the alert system and have stated that it will be a cyber breach all across the region.
Even after such nuances were carried out by numerous groups and MPs, the government has given the option to opt out of the scheme by choice. They have also ensured the public that data will be safe with this scheme and that nothing will be collected or shared in the public sphere apart from personal space. Also, there is no sign that the government of the UK is taking the decision back after the criticism. They still believe that such a national scheme would be a progressive and for security purposes a better way to handle the emergencyÂ
