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What is Austria’s new disaster warning system and how does it work?

Austria's new smartphone disaster warning system is ready to be implemented after a governmental assessment period. Here's how it works and when it might be used.

A person on their mobile phone
People in Austria are being warned to watch for scam messages. Photo by Pixabay /Pexels

Following severe storms in Austria during the summer months, the Austrian Federal Government has announced a new smartphone disaster warning system will be implemented in the coming months.

The AT-Alert system will involve push notifications sent to smartphones to warn people of disasters like storms, chemical accidents or terrorist attacks, reports ORF.

It is expected to be rolled-out in the first quarter of 2023 in coordination with mobile phone companies, the nine federal state warning centres and the Ministry of the Interior.

READ MORE: The smartphone apps that make living in Austria easier

Secretary of State for Digitization Florian Tursky (ÖVP) said: “Almost 90 percent of all Austrians own a smartphone – our daily companion.

“It is obvious that we should get warnings about this in everyday life. The last few months in particular have shown how important and necessary it is to provide people with quick and simple information.” 

AT-Alert will be used in addition to the existing siren alarm in Austria to become the country’s public warning system. It will operate in a similar way to the EU-Alert, the bloc’s public warning system that uses cell broadcast technology, also known as push notifications.

The technology enables disaster alerts to be sent to multiple mobile phones at the same time.

FOR MEMBERS: What is Austria’s official emergency-warning phone app and do I need it?

What other disaster warning systems does Austria have?

The Ministry of the Interior already has a smartphone app called KATWARN, which can warn of potential emergencies and disasters. But only for people that have downloaded the app.

KATWARN is a system that displays information and warnings from various authorities based on location or topic to smartphones, the Ministry of Interior says.

The app complements the existing warning options such as sirens, loudspeakers and media broadcasts. The advantage is that it can immediately warn people of any significant events, informing them of the danger and, just as important, giving immediate information on how to behave.

READ ALSO: Ten essential apps to download for living in Vienna

According to the Bundesministerium Inneres, some of the examples given for when KATWARN is used include police emergencies, natural disasters and extreme weather hazards and any major events or industrial accidents.

Additionally, the app may be used for call outs to the public, for example, with information on missing persons.

You can download the app by accessing your app store and searching for “KATWARN Österreich/Austria”. Here is the link for Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store.

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TECH

Why Google searches in Europe no longer show maps

New EU legislation has led to changes for internet users in Europe - including the way search results appear on Google.

Why Google searches in Europe no longer show maps

Internet users across the world have been accustomed to searching for addresses or locations on Google and immediately afterwards seeing Google Maps pop up in the results, allowing them with one click to be taken to the Maps page.

However, for people living in EU and EEA countries, this function stopped appearing in early March as a result of new EU regulations intended to decrease the ‘gatekeeping’ power of tech giants.

Now, when searching a specific address on your laptop, you will continue to see a small map in the centre of the screen, but will be unable to click on the map and be taken straight to Google Maps. The ‘Maps’ button that once appeared below the search bar, along with ‘Images’ or ‘News’ no longer appears either. 

Instead, you’ll need to head to the website www.google.com/maps or click ‘Directions’ to use the Maps function.

The change is most noticeable on a laptop or tablet device. When using searching an address on a smartphone, users may still be redirected to the Google Maps app when clicking the map image.

Why the change?

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was voted on in 2022, and the regulations contained in it became enforceable on Wednesday.

The goal of the legislation was to manage competition and end the domination of large tech companies, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance (TikTok) within the European market.

These tech giants have been accused of promoting their own services to the detriment of other similar options from competitors, as well as acting as gatekeepers to prevent other companies from entering or growing in the market.

The goal is also to offer consumers with more options.

For example, when searching for nearby bars or restaurants, the results might have taken the user directly to Google Maps instead of other sites, such as Yelp.

A representative from Google explained the French media Franceinfo: “As part of our efforts to comply with the Digital Markets Regulation, we have made a number of changes to the way search results are displayed, including removing certain features.

“Users in the EU will no longer see the ‘Maps’ shortcut at the top of the search page,” they said.

The European Commission’s objective was to allow the “10,000 other online platforms – mostly small and medium-sized enterprises – to operate on the digital market,” French media Le Point reported.

Are there any other changes related to this?

Yes – people in the EU/EEA may have noticed that they received a question from the ‘Messenger’ service asking if they want to create a new account or continue using the app with their existing Facebook account.

This is because Messenger and Facebook are technically different services now. The same goes for Instagram and Facebook.

Even though both are part of ‘Meta’, the company will have to offer people the choice to keep their accounts separate, in an effort to allow users to choose whether they want their personal data to be tracked across sites.

Similarly, people in the EU using Apple products will no longer have to go through the Apple App store to install apps – other options will be available.

For example, Microsoft is reportedly working on a rival ‘gaming’ app store.

Eventually, the DMA will also force messaging services to allow users to contact each other – so you would be able to send a message from one platform to another. 

Is this just in the EU?

As the Digital Markets Act is a piece of EU legislation, it only applies to the European Union and EEA countries. However, other countries, including South Korea, Japan and the UK, are looking into ways they might rein in tech giants with similar proposals.

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