Your phone is about to get loud this week.
On Wednesday, October 4, at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET (11:20 a.m. PT), FEMA, in partnership with the FCC, is conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). The EAS test will be sent to radios and televisions, so you’ll see those if you have either of those devices turned on. However, the WEA test will be sent to all cell phones, iPhone or Android, that are turned on and within range of an active cell tower. As long as your carrier participates in WEA, you’ll receive the alert on your phone.
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The test will last for 30 minutes, and will read either “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed,” or “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción,” depending on your language setting.
This is generally a good thing, since an effective emergency alert system is vital should the entire nation need to be notified of something in a critical situation. However, it also puts those with hidden cellphones in a tricky situation.
Hidden phones are in danger
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There are, of course, many legitimate uses for a secret cellphone, especially for victims of abuse. A hidden cellphone can be a lifeline to help, and maintaining that cellphone’s secrecy from an abuser is essential. Typically, keeping the cellphone on silent at all times is enough to keep it safe: Even if an unexpected call comes in, it won’t ring, and it won’t vibrate, so whether it lives in the bottom of a drawer or in a ceiling tile, it won’t make itself known.
Other emergency alerts can be avoided, too. While these alerts will sound by default, there are settings in any phone that allow you to disable things like AMBER alerts, public safety alerts, and general emergency alerts. For anyone keeping their phone hidden from others in the home, these settings are essential.
Unfortunately, Wednesday’s test bypasses any settings you turn off on your phone, as well as the system-wide silence option. It’s the law. It doesn’t matter whether you disable “Emergency Alerts” on your iPhone, or if you’ve disabled both sound and vibration. Once that test runs, your phone is going to scream.
How to prevent the emergency alert test from sounding on your phone
The only effective method for keeping your phone from sounding during the test on Wednesday, then, is to turn it off completely. If you have a phone with a removable battery, take it out for good measure. Keeping your phone completely powered down is the only way for it to not connect to the test, which means it’s the only way for it to remain completely silent.
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As the test is only supposed to last for 30 minutes, you should be safe to turn it back on at 2:50 p.m. ET. That said, it might be best to wait a bit longer to make sure the test is fully complete before turning your phone back on and connecting to the network again. If the test runs late for any reason, you don’t want to blow your cover accidentally.
In addition, there is a backup date if the test is cancelled on Wednesday: October 11. If so, make sure to repeat the process one week later.
How to disable emergency alerts on your phone
While you can’t disable this national test, you can block other emergency alerts from sounding on your phone, decreasing your risk of someone finding your phone.
On iPhone, you’ll find these options at the bottom of Settings > Notifications. On most Android devices, there’ll be Settings > Safety & emergency > Wireless emergency alerts.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHEN
