Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps (2013) / Chapter Skim
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1 The Role of Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings in Disaster Response
1 The Role of Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings in Disaster Response
Pages 1-23
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At a 2011 CSTB workshop, it was observed that "[l] ocalization of 1 An alert notifies the recipient that something significant has happened or may happen, and a warning, which typically follows an alert, provides more detailed information describing the event and indicates what protective action should be taken by the recipient.
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For example, some tighter localization is possible with the current WEA technology, but overlaps in coverage of individual cellular towers limit the precision that is possible. Additionally, if alert messages include information about the target 2 National Research Council, Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices: Sum mary of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011.
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The Federal Communications Commission, in cooperation with cellular telephone carriers, established a cell phone alert program, originally known as the Commercial Mobile Alert System. DHS S&T and FEMA have worked with the cell carriers on deployment and testing of the program, which is now known as WEA.4 A voluntary program for the cellular carriers, it specifies that participating carriers target governmentoriginated emergency alert messages to the cell towers that lie within the counties affected by an alert.
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6-4 standard and now defined by the American National Standards Institute INCITS 31:200x standard. FIGURE 1.1 Structure of the Integrated Public Alerts and Warnings System.
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Current Use of the Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System and the Wireless Emergency Alerts Today, over 150 entities -- including approximately 75 counties, 25 states, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico -- have access to the IPAWS-OPEN gateway, which allows them to transmit messages to cellular phones (using WEA) , radio and television (using the Emergency Alert System)
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1-2c FIGURE 1.2 Options for mapping alert polygon regions to cellular towers. The circles surrounding each tower represent that tower's transmission reach; the shading indicates that the tower is sending an alert.
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and funding research and development to enhance alerting systems. The act specifies research in the following specific areas: • Improving geotargeting of mobile alerts and warnings, including geotargeting granularity, geotargeting in border areas, public response consideration to geotargeting, and alternative technologies to improve current and future geotargeting capabilities; and • Improving public response to mobile alerts and strategies, including reaching special and diverse populations, information diffusion, and
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SOME CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH ON GEOTARGETED ALERTS AND WARNINGS In a panel exploring some of the current research on geotargeted alerts and the public response, Timothy Sellnow, University of Kentucky, discussed the role of geotargeted information in effectively communicating risk; Michele Wood, California State University, Fullerton, examined the various ways that geotargeted information can be communicated; Brooke Liu, University of Maryland, discussed hazard types and protective actions as they are related to geotargeted information; and Ken Rudnicki, City of Fairfax, Virginia, discussed tools used by emergency managers to geotarget alerts and warnings. Wood summarized the results of decades of research on what types of alert and warning message content will motivate appropriate and timely action by the public (Box 1.2)
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• Certainty. Message is stated authoritatively and confidently, even when there may be uncertainty about elements of the message content, especially about the protective action to be taken.
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he/she is indeed at risk and should take protective action. Finally, because receipt of a geotargeted message can substitute for lengthy descriptions of what areas are at risk, the message content can focus on the hazard and recommended public actions.
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How does the prevalence of a particular hazard affect public response and alert needs? Communicating Geotargeted Information Michele Wood discussed the three general ways to communicate what areas are at risk: text that names locations or describes the boundaries of the area, pictures that show a map of the area, or geotargeted delivery of alerts or warning messages so that only affected populations will receive the messages.
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• Descriptive boundaries: "Fire warning in area bounded by North West Parkway/E-470 on the north, Highway C-470 on the south, Highway 285 on the west, and the eastern boundaries of Adams and Arapahoe counties until 12:00 AM PST. Take shelter now. -- NWS." Although this approach makes it possible to define more precisely the area at risk, it does so with greater message length.
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Liu and her team believe that this is affected by several factors: alert type and format, hazard type and available content, 8 The complete matrix can be found in National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Hazards and Protective Actions Sequence Matrix: Comprehensive Testing of Imminent Threat Public Messages for Mobile Devices, 2013, available at http://www. start.umd.edu/start/publications/HazardsAndProtectiveActionsSequenceMatrix.pdf.
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Use of Geotargeted Information by Emergency Managers Ken Rudnicki discussed the capabilities emergency managers have to issue geotargeted alerts and warnings. Each tool has different geotargeting capabilities, as follows: • EAS provides information to television viewers and radio listeners.
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, discussed transportation system emergencies. Wildfire Events Wildfire events provide significant challenges and opportunities for geotargeting alerts.
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Siebeneck, and A Musters, Protective actions in wildfires: Evacu ate or shelter-in-place?
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The event provided valuable lessons in communicating during nuclear and radiological incidents: • Evacuation orders for radiological events need to include information about direction of the plume so that people can take appropriate action. This information was not provided because scientists felt that the plume model was not fully developed and because emergency managers feared that people would panic if they were provided incomplete information.
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The various capabilities for alerting the public all have certain limitations. For example, cellular coverage in the underground portion of the system is not complete, although a congressional mandate to provide full 11 Discussion of ways to identify and correct misinformation during disasters is discussed in depth in the previous report, National Research Council, Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2013.
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Responding to emergencies within the system involves close cooperation and careful coordination with county and city authorities and first responders in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY CHALLENGES Panelists Patrick McDaniel, Pennsylvania State University, Marc Armstrong, University of Iowa, Darrell Ernst, private consultant, and Kevin Pomfret, Centre for Spatial Law and Policy, examined data security and privacy concerns associated with geotargeted alerts and warnings.
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Defining Geoprivacy Marc Armstrong defined geoprivacy as an individual being secure from unwanted observations and tracking. Currently there are requirements involving location data and mobile devices.
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Previously enacted privacy legislation -- such as the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, BEST Practices ACT, Do Not Track Me On-line Act, Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011, and an update to Children's Online Privacy Protection Act -- may provide a foundation for future legislation protecting location information. Many of these laws are 13 Richmond Times-Dispatch, Town Center's Monitoring Policy Creates Backlash, posted November 26, 2011, available at http://www.timesdispatch.com/business/town-centers-monitoring-policy-creates-backlash/article_7b6bd70f-7bc8-5564-a417-7856266079f5.html.
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is examining privacy-protecting practices and has broad authority under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. These actions include bringing action against companies that do not comply with their own privacy policies and against companies that do not adequately protect personally identifiable or other sensitive personal information.
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SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Trans parency, Staff Report, February 2013, available at www.ftc.gov/os/2013/02/130201mobilepriv acyreport.pdf. licensed this technology and continues to further its development for alerts and warnings.16 Workshop attendees noted that some current alerting systems use similar privacy-protecting methodology.
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