[LINK] itNews: 'Emergency system given geo-location boost'

[Roger Clarke]

[I'm bemused by the report below.

[An emergency warning system has to be designed to communicate with 
people who are in the physical area that's subject to the threat.

[The article below suggests that the current system calls mobile 
phone numbers based on "their registered residential address with the 
carrier".

[Every mobile phone cell 'knows' what devices are in-range, because 
the devices transmit a steady stream of notifications.  I understood 
that the system was designed so that the emergency warning is sent to 
every device known to be in the cells within the area affected by the 
threat.

[That over-reports ('cries wolf') in the case of threats that affect 
a very limited area, and in the case of very large cells.  But that 
over-reporting would seem like a reasonable price to pay.

[Am I missing something?]


Emergency system given geo-location boost
John Hilvert
itNews
Jan 16, 2012 7:16 AM (1 hour ago)
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/286925,emergency-system-given-geo-location-boost.aspx

The Victorian Government has contracted Telstra to enhance the 
national Emergency Alert telephone warning system with geo-location 
technology for mobile users.

Under the current national system, SMS alerts can be sent to users 
only based on their registered residential address with the carrier.

Recent emergencies such as a toxic chemical leak in Canberra saw 
users with residential addresses in the vicinity of the leak warned 
of danger, even if they were overseas.

At the same time, phone users whose registered address was outside 
the emergency area - but who found themselves in the area that day - 
failed to receive a warning and risked chemical exposure.

Telstra group managing director Paul Geason said geo-location 
technology is to be added to the emergency warning system in Victoria.

"New technology introduced by Telstra pinpoints the location of 
mobile handsets making it possible for emergency services to quickly 
send text messages directly to Telstra mobiles irrespective of their 
service address," he said.

"The ability to provide a more accurate prediction of the physical 
location of a mobile handset via this new location based technology 
will significantly enhance the capabilities of the emergency alert 
service."

It is expected to be operating nationally for Telstra customers by 
the end of the year.

The Federal Government is hopeful of similar agreements with Optus 
and Vodafone that would allow their respective customers to also 
receive location-based alerts.

A spokesman for the Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Robert 
McClelland, said the carriers were "at the [negotiating] table".

The spokesman declined to put a total figure on how much it would 
cost to introduce geo-location across all networks.

In operation since 2009, the Emergency Alert system has been used 
more than 300 times and sent over seven million warning messages 
nationally to Australians at times of disaster.

Funded substantially by the Federal Government, the $26.5 million 
system has been criticised in some quarters over its performance; 
charges that Telstra and the Government deny.

A Senate Committee [pdf] has been exploring alleged shortcomings of 
the current warning system, including its inability to determine the 
location of mobile handsets in the alert area.

The Senate inquiry has led to consideration of other systems and 
technologies to issue emergency alerts.

Terms of Telstra's deal with the Victorian Government were not disclosed.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
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Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University