“Extremely serious alert – IMPORTANT: message from the Ministry of the Interior relating to the security perimeter of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games from July 18 to 26, 2024 inclusive. » Monday May 13 at 8 p.m., many Parisians received a message on their phone, accompanied by a shrill ringtone. This is the FR-Alert system, an emergency alert system designed for natural disasters, biological and chemical, technological, industrial risks, or even attacks.
Why did you use this device simply to alert Parisians of the entry into force of the Games Pass, a QR code required to travel during the Olympics this summer? Contacted by The worldthe Ministry of the Interior confirms the use of FR-Alerte, but refers it to the Paris Police Prefecture (PP), which can use it without its approval.
The alert message was broadcast to telephones present in the area which will constitute the “internal security and fight against terrorism (SILT)” perimeter » before the opening ceremony of the Games, according to the Ministry of the Interior, with Franceinfo. “FR-Alert is an exceptional device for widely disseminating information during an exceptional event, here so that everyone can make arrangements during the Olympic Games”declares to World the PP, which published a tweet immediately, without further explanation.
“This is not a test”
“It is an alert sent to the security perimeters and their surroundings to widely inform of the opening of the platform”the Interior Ministry clarified a little later to Agence France-Presse. “It’s not a test. This is information”continued Place Beauvau, adding: “An exceptional event, an exceptional device. »
The alert was sent at 8 p.m. “to reach as many people as possible”, justified the authorities, faced with astonishment on social networks at the gap between the form and substance of the message. The latter also disrupted a verbal joust in the hemicycle of the National Assembly between La France insoumise and Gérald Darmanin.
At exactly 8 p.m., while the Minister of the Interior was in the middle of a debate on New Caledonia, the cacophony followed the shrill ringing of the alert: “Mr. Minister, there is an alert! », launched several voices among the “rebels”, while Gérald Darmanin tried to turn off his own phone, while continuing the thread of his speech. The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, had to intervene: “Mr. Minister, you can hear that there is an alert at the moment, no one can hear you! »
Cell broadcast technology
The FR-Alert device is based on so-called cellular broadcast technology (cell broadcast), which allows phones within an antenna radius to ring even if they are in silent mode. This technology leaves out at least a quarter of the devices in circulation. Ordinary mobile phones are excluded: one in ten French people are fitted with one of those old fashioned modelsmore popular among seniors.
Even among smartphones, some older generation models cannot receive alerts. In Apple’s ranges, only models marketed after September 2015, the release date of the iPhone 6S, are compatible, on the express condition that their iOS software is up to date. As for Android mobiles, the overwhelming majority of models released since 2021 can receive alerts, but models dating from before 2018 are rarely compatible.
More information to come