In an emergency, it is vital that the authorities can reach the affected population as quickly and directly as possible. Alertswiss collects every detail regarding incidents in Switzerland, making it an information platform that can protect and save lives. The national Alertswiss app sends you alerts, warnings and information on a wide range of hazards such as drinking water contamination, power outages or forest fires directly to your smartphone. In addition to these reports, you can access extensive information on the given incident or hazard on the Alertswiss website.

Alertswiss is an alert and information channel operated by the federal government and the cantons. The Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP operates and provides the infrastructure for this website and the Alertswiss app. The reports are issued by the agencies responsible for incident management. In most cases, these are the cantons or the cantonal police forces.

There are three levels of notification: alert, warning and information. An alert is the highest level, and information the lowest.

• Alert: When authorities send an alert, it is to inform the public about an immediate danger and provide mandatory instructions on what to do. Alerts appear in red.
  
• Warning: A warning is issued when there is potential danger or an impending incident. Authorities may provide specific recommendations, but these are not mandatory. Warnings appear in orange.
  
• Information: Information messages are used for important incidents that are relevant to public safety, but which do not pose an immediate threat. These appear in blue.
  

Alertswiss notifications generally contain the following information:

• Description of the incident and existing danger
• What area is affected 
• Instructions or recommendations on what to do or what measures the authorities have taken
• Additional sources of information, for example hotlines, websites or contact points
• Name of the competent authority or authority responsible for sending the alert
  

Yes. Notifications come from official, authorised sources, such as cantonal police services. The system is designed so that only the relevant authorities can send out notifications.

All reports which appear on the Alertswiss app are issued by the competent official authorities. Security measures (integrity protection) are in place to ensure that only reports from authorised providers appear on the Alertswiss app.

Alertswiss is an alerting and information channel of the Federal administration and the Cantons. The decision as to whether an announcement should be made via the Alertswiss app and the website is made by the agencies in charge of event response. In most cases, these are the Cantons or the respective Cantonal police forces. They decide on their own authority whether an announcement should be disseminated via Alertswiss and if so, what its message should be.

Alertswiss is available in German, French, Italian and English. However, the issuer of the notification – usually a cantonal authority or police force – decides which languages to publish it in. Currently, not all notifications are available in all four languages. Your device will display messages in your default device language, as long as that language is German, French, Italian or English. If the notification is not available in your default language, it will appear in the language used by the sender.

All messages on the Alertswiss app are visible for as long as they are valid. The time for an all-clear or removal of the alert is determined by the authorities responsible for incident management. It is not possible to delete messages individually in the app.

The app is available for iOS and Android. All the latest news and information are also available on the website https://www.alert.swiss. This is optimized for smartphones and tablets.

In the Alertswiss app, you have stated that you would like to receive push notifications when an Alertswiss message relates to your location. At the same time, you have specified in your device settings that the Alertswiss app may not access your location. That is why you receive these requests. You have two options to stop the requests from appearing:

1. In the device settings of your mobile phone, allow the Alertswiss app to access your location by clicking ‘Always allow’. You will then receive a push notification when an Alertswiss message relates to your location. You will no longer receive requests to share your location. The user’s location is not passed on to the federal authorities.
2. In the app settings under ‘Notifications’, deactivate ‘Location’. You will no longer receive push notifications when an Alertswiss message relates to your location. You will no longer receive requests to share your location.

Open the app settings and select «Favourites», then select «Configure». You can then set the desired cantons as favourites. You will receive push notifications for all the cantons you have selected.

Yes, of course. You can delete your favourite cantons at any time. Simply select the «Favourites» in the app settings. Then select «Configure», which you can use to delete the relevant canton from your favourites.

If you have location services activated, you will receive notifications for the cantons you've added to your favourites and for your current location as soon as they are published. This means you'll be kept up to date in real time about relevant incidents and hazards. To receive these notifications, your smartphone must have an active data connection.

Yes, you can easily do this in the app settings by toggling the switch for your preferred notification level – alert, warning or information.

Yes. To do so, you need to activate location services in the app. You will then receive push notifications for your current position.

Location-based push notifications cover an area extending roughly one kilometre beyond cantonal borders, so you may also receive notifications from a neighbouring canton if you are close to the border.

Check your app settings to make sure that push notifications are enabled and that the correct notification level (information, warning or alert) has been selected. Your operating system (iOS or Android) must also allow the app to send push notifications. We recommend adding your preferred cantons to your favourites and activating location-based notifications (GPS) in the app. If you have completed these steps and still aren't receiving notifications, it may be because your device was not connected to a mobile or Wi-Fi network when the notification was sent. Push notifications can only be delivered if the device is online at the time. If you have tried all these steps and the issue persists, we recommend uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

To ensure the app works reliably in the event of an incident, we recommend installing any available updates. On most smartphones, updates are installed automatically. If not, you can install them manually in your phone’s settings. You can also run a push notification test in the Alertswiss app. To do this, go to the app settings and follow the instructions to start a test. 

The Alertswiss App automatically adopts your device’s language settings. To switch languages, you therefore need to change your device’s language settings. The Alertswiss app is available in German, French, Italian and English.

Yes. If you want to load data, make sure that your device has an active internet connection. Please remember that the app only provides reports for Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. If you require information on an incident abroad, please contact the relevant authorities in the country concerned.

Im Ernstfall ist es besonders wichtig, die betroffene Bevölkerung schnell und möglichst direkt zu erreichen. Auf Alertswiss fliessen die relevanten Informationen bei Ereignissen in der Schweiz zusammen: eine Informationsdrehscheibe, die Leben schützen und retten kann. Mit der nationalen Alarm-App Alertswiss erhalten Sie Alarme, Warnungen und Informationen für unterschiedliche Gefahren  wie beispielsweise Trinkwasserverunreinigung, Stromausfälle oder Waldbrandgefahr direkt auf ihr Smartphone. Parallel zu den Meldungen in der App werden die Ereignisinformationen auch auf der Alertswiss-Webseite publiziert.

Yes, you can deactivate the function at any time in the settings of your device. However, we recommend that you leave this function activated so that you are informed in good time in the event of an emergency.

In an emergency, you may be faced with fundamental questions: How do I contact my friends and relatives? Where do I go? What do I take with me? A current emergency plan helps you to respond rapidly and correctly, so that you and your family are protected as well as possible. We recommend discussing the emergency plan with your friends and relatives and checking it annually to ensure that it is still up-to-date.

In the app and on the website, you can create your personal emergency plan to help you act quickly and appropriately in an emergency. You can then export the plan as a PDF, share it digitally with your family and friends, or print it out.

Under Article 13 of the Federal Constitution and the data protection provisions of the federal government, every person has the right to privacy and the right to be protected against the misuse of their personal data. The federal authorities comply with this provision. Personal data is treated confidentially and is neither sold nor otherwise passed on to third parties.

The Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP works closely with service providers to protect data as well as possible from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or falsification.

Alertswiss can be used to record personal data. This is data that users enter themselves in the emergency plan. This data is only stored locally on the user's device, unless the user actively sends it to a third party.

A user's location is not transmitted to the federal authorities and personal mobile phone data cannot be accessed.

Please contact us via the contact form if you have any comments or suggestions.