Euro 2016: France Launches Terror Alert App Ahead Soccer Tournament Called SAIP

With one of the world’s biggest soccer tournaments about to get underway in France, the French government has launched a new mobile app to broadcast terrorism alerts and safety information to millions.

Called SAIP (Système d’alerte et d’information des populations), the app was developed in the wake of the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris, which left 130 dead at restaurants, cafes, and a concert hall.
The app is being released ahead of the Euro 2016 football tournament, which starts on Friday.

It will alert geo-located users "in case of a suspected attack", the interior ministry said in a statement (in French).

Officials in France fear the month-long tournament — slated at venues in 10 cities across the country — might be subject to another attack.

After his arrest, Mohamed Abrini — a member of the Islamic State-affiliated terrorist cell that orchestrated the March attacks in Brussels — told investigators that the group’s ultimate target had been Euro 2016. Suspicions remain high.

Many people turn to social media to receive updates during terrorist attacks and other threats to national security and safety, but this can often lead to the spread of false rumors and misinformation. With SAIP, the French government is seeking to build a simple conduit through which citizens can access official government-sanctioned information in real time.

Available on Android and iOS, the free app uses geo location data to serve up alerts for any kind of “exceptional” event (e.g. nuclear) that results from an attack within a perceived “at-risk” area. Users can also manually input up to eight geographic areas, such as a postal code or a city where friends and family reside, and receive alerts if anything happens in that region
Users will be able to sign up to receive alerts in up to eight different "geographical zones" in addition to their present location.
Alerts will offer a brief description of what has happened as well as advice on how to stay safe.

The app will "keep the public up to date with what we know," Bernard Cazeneuve, France's interior minister, told Agence France-Presse. The platform should also allow authorities to broadcast only verified information, as well as to communicate with civilians in the event that phone networks are down.

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After the tournament, the government plans to use the app to continue providing people alerts about other future risks.