The government texts me

And I'm only a little paranoid

Verizon wireless was an early adopter of FEMA's emergency alert text messaging system.
(Image credit: Thinkstock/iStockphoto)

Yesterday, I logged on to my Verizon Wireless account, directed myself to privacy settings, and instructed the company not to share my personal information with other companies. This is a power reserved only for new customers (Update: anyone can do this -- apologies to Verizon), and I felt satisfied that I had taken a small step to regain whatever ineffable sense of personal dignity the age of Big Data has taken away.

And then came the alerts: They were not accompanied by screeching, but they popped up on my iPhone like a priority message. One read: "EMERGENCY ALERT: Flash Flood Warning this area till 6:30 PDT Avoid Flood Areas Check local media — NWS. " This being Los Angeles, these flash floods didn't amount to much. But I digress.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder is TheWeek.com's editor-at-large. He is the author, with D.B. Grady, of The Command and Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry. Marc is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic and GQ. Formerly, he served as White House correspondent for National Journal, chief political consultant for CBS News, and politics editor at The Atlantic. Marc is a 2001 graduate of Harvard. He is married to Michael Park, a corporate strategy consultant, and lives in Los Angeles.