{
  "id": "disaster/emergency-alerts-enabled-by-default",
  "signature": "AI tells someone in the UK they must download an app or register to receive government emergency alerts for floods, fires, or severe weather",
  "signature_zh": "",
  "regex": "(uk emergency alerts?|emergency alerts?.*app.*uk|register.*emergency alert.*uk|gov\\.uk/alerts)",
  "domain": "disaster",
  "category": "hazard_misjudgment",
  "subcategory": null,
  "root_cause": "The UK's Emergency Alerts system sends severe-weather, flood, fire, and other life-threatening warnings directly to compatible mobile phones and tablets (iOS 14.5+, Android 11+ generally) via cell broadcast, switched on by default with no app download and no registration - the government does not need a phone number or location data to reach a device. Alerts override silent mode with a loud siren-like sound, vibration, and an on-screen message read aloud. Users can opt out through phone notification settings, but there is no opt-in step required to receive alerts in the first place.",
  "root_cause_type": "generic",
  "root_cause_zh": "",
  "versions": [
    {
      "version": "any",
      "introduced": null,
      "deprecated": null,
      "removed": null,
      "behavior_change": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "os_specific": {},
  "dead_ends": [
    {
      "action": "Tell a resident or traveler in the UK they need to download an app or register with a phone number to receive government Emergency Alerts",
      "why_fails": "gov.uk states plainly that 'the government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert' and that no app is required - the service is built into compatible devices at the network level via cell broadcast, and is on by default.",
      "fail_rate": 0.75,
      "condition": "Device running iOS 14.5+ or Android 11+ (most phones sold in the UK since ~2021)",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.gov.uk/alerts",
        "https://www.gov.uk/alerts/how-alerts-work"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Assume the alert cannot be silenced or that opting out isn't possible",
      "why_fails": "gov.uk's opting-out guidance gives exact steps: on iPhone, Settings > Notifications, scroll down, and turn off 'Severe Alerts' and 'Extreme Alerts'; on Android, search settings for 'emergency alerts' and turn off the same two categories.",
      "fail_rate": 0.4,
      "condition": "User wants to disable alerts",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.gov.uk/alerts/opting-out"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds": [
    {
      "action": "Confirm the device meets the minimum OS version (iOS 14.5+/Android 11+) and leave the default notification settings alone - no action is needed to receive alerts; check Settings > Notifications (iPhone) or the emergency alerts setting (Android) only if alerts seem to be missing or need to be turned off",
      "success_rate": 0.9,
      "how": "",
      "condition": "Any compatible smartphone physically in the UK",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.gov.uk/alerts/how-alerts-work"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds_zh": [],
  "transition_graph": {
    "leads_to": [],
    "preceded_by": [],
    "frequently_confused_with": [
      "emergency/999-or-112-dual-number/uk"
    ]
  },
  "official_doc_url": null,
  "official_doc_section": null,
  "error_code": null,
  "verification_tier": "ai_generated",
  "confidence": 0.7,
  "fix_success_rate": 0.85,
  "resolvable": "true",
  "first_seen": "2026-09-09",
  "last_confirmed": "2026-09-09",
  "last_updated": "2026-09-09",
  "evidence_count": 3,
  "tags": [],
  "locale": "en",
  "aliases": [
    "disaster/emergency-alerts-enabled-by-default/uk"
  ]
}