From USA Today:
Wireless carriers and the federal government are launching a system to automatically warn people of dangerous weather and other emergencies via a special type of text messaging to cellphones. The Wireless Emergency Alerts service, which begins this month, is free, and consumers won’t have to sign up … Alerts will be issued for such life-threatening events as tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, dust storms, extreme winds, blizzards, and ice storms … WEA can also issue AMBER Alerts for missing children and Presidential Alerts for national emergencies.
This is a great example of a well-intentioned government program being executed by people who have absolutely no clue of what to do or how to do it in the era of personal information technology.
1) My mobile device is my personal space. My iPhone is mine. I paid for it. It’s an intensely personal space, programming and organized in ways I like, that suit me. I don’t share my mobile number with many people precisely because I don’t want text messages and calls from people I don’t know. Having a government agency push alerts to it without my permission feels like a violation of my privacy — and it is.
2) It’s an opt-in world. If I want a newsletter, I sign up. If I want to know every time your shop has a sale, let me opt-in. Seth Godin’s built an empire teaching people about the power of opt-in marketing.
But this system flies in the face of all that wisdom, signing me up (for free!) without my permission. It’s then up to me to find a way to opt-out of the alerts I don’t want. (Bad news: the truth is, with the exception of the AMBER Alerts, I can’t actually opt out at all.)
The right way to do this: create the service, promote it, and let those who are passionate about weather events or AMBER alerts sign up.
3) Respect my choices. I already have apps that keep me well-informed of weather issues, thanks. I like how they operate. I like them because I can control what they alert me about, and whether or not they will do that in the middle of the night. This Big Brother-ish weather alert system forces me to use a solution that doesn’t just duplicate functionality I already possess … it forces me to use a solution that isn’t as good as the ones I already use.
3) Crying wolf will blunt weather awareness, not encourage it. My mom has a weather radio that sets off an ear-splitting alarm when any weather alert is issued: for flash-flood warnings, for heavy rain warnings, for thunderstorm warnings, for tornado warnings. Guess what? After a few weeks, that sucker got unplugged — because everyone got tired of it going off six times a night to tell us about a flash-flood warning six counties away.
So … now what? I’ll get an alert when there’s a flash-flood warning in Cobb County at 2 a.m.? Even though I live in another county … and on the 8th floor? It will take about one or two late-night alerts about heavy rain warnings for people to start turning off their devices in order to get some sleep. What good will this system be then?
Making vital information available to people is a good thing. But don’t force it on us, or pump it into our most personal spaces without permission. Just offer it. The passionate will subscribe.
Add comment