A new alert system allows the US government to send out messages to citizens, but experts say it comes with a catch.
Earlier this week, the US government rolled out a new program that allows various agencies to send messages out to every US citizen with a cellphone. Unlike the Amber and weather alerts that many Americans are already familiar with, there is no way to turn off or opt-out of the Presidential alerts.
The FCC says that no user data is collected through this process, and that the alerts are secure. However, cyber security expert John Mcafee pointed out that these alerts are capable of giving the government control over “every function of your phone.” Mcafee Tweeted:
“The "Presidential alerts": they are capable of accessing the E911 chip in your phones - giving them full access to your location, microphone, camera and every function of your phone. This not a rant, this is from me, still one of the leading cybersecurity experts. Wake up people!”
https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1047585232831041536
- officialmcafee
Mcafee’s advice to his followers who want to opt-out was, “Find a phone that is 5+ years old and use only that.”
Former NSA analyst and whistleblower Edward Snowden also chimed in on Twitter, saying:
"The same centralized infrastructure that lets them send something to everyone enables them to read anything from anyone...All our lives dangle at the end of a wire. Ask yourself: who controls it? How else might it be used? #PresidentialAlert”
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1047562087059341312
- Snowden
Snowden then linked a 2016 article from JustSecurity.org that explained the vulnerability in greater detail. The report states:
"Upstream surveillance represents a new surveillance paradigm, one in which computers constantly scan our communications for information of interest to the government," the article states. "As the legislative debate gets underway, it's critical to frame the technological and legal issues that Congress and the public must consider -- and to examine far more closely the less intrusive alternatives available to the government."
Shortly after the notifications went live, three New Yorkers filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, demanding an end to the new alert system.