Whatever is going on …. everyone in the office has just received text messages from Victoria Police warning them of extreme weather and high fire risk. The police urge us to listen to the ABC! Wait till certain parties at the Herald Sun hear of this: law enforcement officers driving innocent citizens to the hands of sneering leftists (yes you Richard Stubbs)! And How did the police get our numbers? Seizing the phone networks? Will they take control of TV stations next? Will we be deprived of Top Gear at 7.30?
… and put that bloody light out!
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5 Comments
God help us we don’t want to upset precious at the Herald. How did they get you numbers without permission?
I’m not in Victoria and have never lived in Victoria, so imagine my suprise when I got the same text from Victoria Police warning me about the Victorian fire risk. No idea where they got the phone number from.
I got that message too. When it came I got the tiny little buzz you get when a new SMS arrives, only to have my excitement turn to a ‘what have I done??’ when I saw who it was from. A moment later I relaxed upon the realisation that if the police were after me they probably wouldn’t send me an SMS first…
Very good question. One I should have asked myself. It has to be more than going through the electoral rolls. I’ve only had my mobile ‘phone for two months. Long after the last elections. How did they know my number? From Telstra perhaps?
The telcos don’t need to give phone numbers to the police so the police can send you an SMS. The data flows the other way. The police and, presumably, other agencies, have ways of delivering messages to the mobile telcos — there are only four network operators, after all — and the message can then be delivered to any or all the numbers on that network.
Using other techniques, they can be delivered to all phones in a certain area, i.e. the footprint of one or more cell towers.
@karl karloph: It’s not that the police got “your” phone number. There was a list of numbers, and one of the numbers on the list was the one you use. It’s not about you, it’s about the number — and if you’re not in Victoria this is what’s technically called a mistake” somewhere. Probably in keying in the data on the hand-written form when you first applies for the phone.