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Google alert failed to warn people of Turkey earthquake (www.bbc.co.uk)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/794897

Archived version: https://archive.ph/z5TiN
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230728005143/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66316462

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[-] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I live in Turkey and know numerous folks who were in the quake, or had family members in the quake. No one got any sort of alert.

Weird flex, Google.

Edit: To make things clear, I'm not implying that Google had any responsibility to anyone as far as Earthquake reporting is concerned; I simply find it odd they would insist that "no no no the system totally worked' when it clearly didn't. A lot of people died, maybe don't use this specific incident to make your point?

[-] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

I hope everyone you know is doing okay but I don't think Google is really flexing that the alert system didn't work. Tech isn't perfect but the system has worked with other earthquakes. If anything we can hope the tech gets better because this event will highlight gaps.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Google's product lead on the system, Micah Berman, insisted it had worked. "We are confident that this system fired and sent alerts," he told the BBC. However, the company did not provide evidence that these alerts were widely received.

Personally I don't think they have any responsibility to build such a system, or even have it function properly. By "weird flex" I was specifically referring to the "We are confident that this system fired and sent alerts" line.

Obviously my view is anecdotal (especially the whole "No one got any sort of alert" part of my original comment), so take what I say with a grain of salt!

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Is this something Google regularly does? Release alerts about earthquakes?

Is it specific to Turkey or global?

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Idk... Tbh I am not sure what they aree talking about.

Here in Spain and I think applies to Europe aswell the government can sent alerts per region or globally for any reason , Android and iOS handle it but I wouldn't exactly call it a Google alert of course if Google fuck it up it wouldn't work on Android phones. That said until recently at least here it had been barely tested, recently they did tests and finally seems to work fine but initially some phones didn't receive anything, but as far as I know it was ISP provider issues, again not sure how the delivery is done so you get the alert

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Okay, thanks. I got some quake alerts in Japan before, but I also thought that was a network message, not a specifically Google alert.

I'm just curious why Google is specifically taking the blame here, like if they took responsibility or announced intention to report on future quakes and then dropped the ball or something.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Google is not taking any blame. Google prepared an optional Earthquake alert system, it did not work, and they're claiming it did.

No one asked for such a system in the first place from them, and while it's nice they'd go about doing something like that in Earthquake prone parts of the world, if it doesn't work they probably shouldn't get up and start declaring "No no, it totally did work, dunno what those survivors are on about."

Is this something Google regularly does? Release alerts about earthquakes? Is it specific to Turkey or global?

From the article (which you should read, it's quite short):

Google's Android Earthquake Alert System was announced in Turkey in June 2021. The system is operational in dozens of countries around the world. The company describes the ability to send quake alerts as a "core" part of its Android service.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Google prepared an optional Earthquake alert system

If you read between the lines of their 'earthquake system', it is obviously polling your phone on a very short and granular basis and pulling movement data, which is something no one seems to be talking about. This is the kind of data collection that pisses me off, and they get away with this by trying to pass this off as some sort of wonderful life saving system that I bet no one even knew they were contributing data to.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Gross, you have a point.

My Librem phone finally arrived (to a friend in the US), I guess I'm going to have to try using it the next time I'm there.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Oh, my bad, I completely missed the article.

I've read it now, and appreciate your explanation, things make a lot more sense.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

My hotel TV was blaring

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I think if you create an alarm service like this, you do have a certain responsibility, because people will start to rely on that.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Nah. Relying on an ad subsidized service to alert you of danger is a bad idea both for the end user and the local government.

There is a already an emergency alert system baked into every iPhone and Android device, the government is responsible for using it regardless of whether there is commercial service working in parallel to theirs.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Obligatory XKCD

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Probably a very stupid question: Could Turkey's Internet censorship (like DNS blocking) have any effect on the alert system?

this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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