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Every smartphone in LA accidentally received a wildfire evacuation alert
As wildfires rage for the third consecutive day through parts of Los Angeles, several neighborhoods have been forced to evacuate for safety purposes. However, on Thursday afternoon, a wildfire evacuation alert was mistakenly sent to the smartphones of every resident in Los Angeles County, a region with more than 9 million people.
The emergency alert interrupted a live broadcast on Fox LA, confusing the meteorologist on air. It is unclear what caused the error, but it has been reported that several Los Angeles residents took to social media to share their experiences of receiving the push notification, despite being in areas far from any active fire.
LA county supervisor Janice Hahn informed the public that the evacuation warning was sent out due to a technical error and a correction will be issued shortly. This error highlights the potential risks associated with government officials using smartphone-based emergency alert systems.
Smartphone makers allow government officials to send emergency push notifications to users based on their location, a feature particularly important for California residents when wildfires are occurring. However, errors like this can unnecessarily cause panic in an already stressful situation.
It is imperative that measures be put in place to prevent such mistakes from happening again. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of rigorous quality control and testing before deploying critical emergency alert systems.
Maxwell Zeff
Source: techcrunch.com
