The mobile phone has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. We carry it with us everywhere, and it’s a crisis when it’s lost. Now it has also taken on a new role: alerting us to emergencies.
The traditional sirens for alerting are still there, while alerting on mobile phones is now being tested. Photo: Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection
On Wednesday, January 8, emergency alerts on mobile phones were tested across Norway, eighteen months since the system was first tested nationwide.
But how has the Norwegian population received the new alert system?
Sirens less important
The alert tested on mobiles. Photo: Marius Vassnes / CC 4.0
For decades, air raid sirens have been the cornerstone of Norway’s emergency alert system, even though almost half of the population is unable to hear the sirens where they live. Mobile-based alerts reach almost everyone who has a mobile phone.
Emergency alerts on mobile phones are automatically uploaded to phones located in Norway, and when the alert is sent, it immediately captures users’ attention with both sound and vibrations. The system thus has an exceptional ability to send emergency messages quickly and reach large sections of the population. The sirens have not disappeared, but they are no longer as important.
Do Norwegians like emergency alerts on mobile phones?
The introduction of emergency alerts on mobile phones has been met with varied reactions from the Norwegian public; we see this on social media. In the research project Digital Emergency Communication (DIGeMERGE) led by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), we have followed the debate on emergency alerts on mobile phones since the first test was conducted in Norway in June 2023.
In June 2024, we commissioned a nationwide survey to find out more about the Norwegian population’s reactions to the new alert system. The survey shows that most Norwegians trust emergency alerts on mobile phones and understand the importance of the system. A large majority of those who responded to the survey agreed that emergency alerts make us more resilient, provide us with important information about threats, and give us a better opportunity to protect ourselves. While 33 percent said they become anxious when receiving alerts, only 6 percent felt that alerts were primarily annoying. This suggests that most people perceive alerts as valuable.
Most of the respondents prefer alerts directly on their mobile phones, especially in cases of acute danger and large-scale disasters. However, a clear majority responded that emergency alerts in the form of a pop-up on the mobile phone should be reserved for the most critical situations, while less intrusive technologies such as regular SMS should be used for early warnings, when the situation is less acute, and in the aftermath of an emergency situation.
High trust, but also frustration
The survey results suggest that Norwegians trust emergency alerts on mobile phones as a tool to improve safety, although some are critical of the handling of alerts during the extreme weather event Hans in eastern Norway in August 2023.
But Norwegians cannot rest on their laurels. It is important to ensure that everyone, regardless of language or economy, receives alerts they can understand. Many have expressed frustration that they do not receive alerts on older mobile phones. This reminds us that coverage is not enough – it is also important to pay attention to accessibility and linguistic adaptation.
Although most Norwegians appreciate the increased safety provided by the alerts, some feel uneasy that the boundary between the public and the private is shifting.
Unlike sirens, which emit sounds in public spaces, the new alerts are sent directly to the mobile phone, a personal device. The alert appears on the phone whether those receiving them like it or not. There is no way to opt out of emergency alerts, as we can delete an app we no longer want.
This creates a new dynamic, and a new interface, between authorities and individual citizens, where the emergency alerts intrude on a device we own and perceive as private. This tension underscores the importance of considerate implementation.
A strong warning from Spain
Spain, like Norway, has implemented emergency alerts on mobile phones. Unfortunately, authorities in Valencia failed to alert the public in time, when water from the heavy rain flooded the streets. Residents of Valencia did not receive an alert on their mobile phone until many hours later, and as a result, they were completely unprepared. They had to seek vital information on social media, local news, and word of mouth. These are methods that are far less reliable than alerts directly to the mobile phone.
The use of emergency alerts on mobile phones during the extreme weather event Hans in eastern Norway shows the new technology’s potential to save lives, while what happened in Valencia is a strong warning about the consequences of waiting too long to use these tools.
For both Norway and Spain – and indeed the world – the way forward must involve continuous improvement of emergency communication strategies to fully utilize the opportunities the new technology provides us.
- A version of this text was published in Norwegian by Forskersonen 7 January 2025
- Åshild Kolås is a Research Professor at PRIO, Stine Bergersen is a Senior Researcher at PRIO
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