Terror Spam: FCC to Announce SMS Alert System

by jordan | April 10, 2008 at 03:59 pm | 258 views | 1 comment

I"m not convinced that the best thing to do after a terror attack is to send a SMS to every single mobile phone in the vicinity... on Sept 11, my phone was a paperweight as signal towers choked on the extra traffic, and it remained useless for the next 48 hours. I relied on email to let people know I was okay, and to check on my friends. Also, terror attacks tend to be unexpected; the SMS is more or less useless for those in the vicinity, as they'll likely know that something big and nasty just happened. It's like an air bag deploying two seconds after the car has smashed into the tree.

Carriers opted in, but you may opt out.

The idea is that a federal agency, as yet unnamed, will be given the password to the biggest mobile spamming engine ever created, and told to only use it in an emergency. They will use the system to let people know when there's a terrorist attack, ideally beforehand but more likely just afterwards, or a natural disaster, with the same caveat.

If the system gets over-used then punters can opt out of receiving more messages, and carriers will also be able to withdraw from the system.

Assuming the agency responsible can be discouraged from false alarms then the idea makes some sense, though it could be susceptible to feature creep; CNN reports that the same agency will also pass on Amber Alerts.

... and this could result in some serious SMS spam for people living in Boston.