A friend or a foe?

Ishtiaq Ahmed
London: The UK government’s new public warning system for emergencies such as flooding, fires, extreme weather or imminent threat of terrorist attack or other life-threatening emergencies.
The system was earlier today (23rd April) I at 3pm by sending out a public test alert for 10 seconds.
The British Government claims that this will bring the U.K. into line with countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands, which all use similar systems to warn of severe weather events or national emergencies.
Citizens have the option to opt-out but would they do that. Certainly, the emergency services are hoping that the majority would stay in.
At first glance, this development looks having definite benefits as it could help to safe lives but it is not without genuine concerns, particularly, around personal privacy and freedom. It is a worry that the government has this ability to tap into personal and private mobile devices. I don’t know about others but,  for me, it brings to fore some serious privacy, moral and ethical concerns, for example, could it potentially be used for intelligence and other unscrupulous purposes? Would it increase the risk of abuse by tricksters and fraudulent?
Would it bring additional risks to children, women and other vulnerable groups?
These and other questions are there many and most certainly you will have your views.7
What if the Pakistan government decides to move in a similar direction: could we trust the Pakistani government and the intelligence services to have similar access to public mobiles?
Would the risk to women and children be increased in a country with a much lesser stringent regulatory code and even lesser moral and ethical considerations?
Is this development ‘ a friend or foe’? Have your say!