New Massachusetts cell phone alert system warns of tornadoes

The National Weather Service used a new tool to warn people before a tornado tore through Moore, Okla., on Monday – an automatic best cell phone deals alert the agency also plans to use to notify Bay State residents about twisters and other dangerous storms.Authorities can use the Wireless Emergency Alert system to send warning messages to mobile phones in a particular geographic area about imminent threats and disasters, Amber Alerts for abducted children and national emergencies announced by the president.

Developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission and wireless companies, the system went live nationwide last year, although not all Latest Smartphones or carriers are equipped to receive messages from it.Mobile phone owners in Massachusetts not yet acquainted with the system may have gotten a first peek Monday night, when many phones emitted a jarring tone and flashed a message about an Amber Alert for a brother and sister kidnapped from a Braintree foster home.

Mobile phone owners can opt out of receiving alerts, except for those issued by the president. Users can check with their carriers to see if they receive emergency messages.In New England, the Weather Service plans to use the alert system for tornadoes, hurricanes and severe ice storms, among other potentially major threats, according to Buchanan.ds2wfdD2

Cell phone companies are now selling or looking to sell massive troves of information about their customers including their physical locations, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal released Wednesday.It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Buy Cell Phones companies are recording and selling your data. Sites like Google and Facebook have been doing that for years, The Wall Street Journal points out. The difference is, you're paying for your cell phone service, and you're not paying to use sites like Facebook and Google, which makes it slightly more socially acceptable for them to do what they will with your data.

There's no hiding from data collection anymore. At this point, you cannot reasonably expect to exist in the modern world and not have your personal data sold to an advertiser. A few brave souls have quit Google due to privacy fears, but quitting Google, social media, and giving up your discount cell phones? That's another story.