If You Have a Secret Cell Phone, Turn It Off on Wednesday
Your phone will get louder this week.
On Wednesday, October 4, at approximately 2:20 pm ET (11:20 pm PT), FEMA, in partnership with the FCC, is conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA). The EAS test will be sent to radios and TVs, so you will see them if any of these devices are turned on. However, the WEA test will be sent to all iPhone or Android mobile phones that are turned on and within range of an active cell tower. If your carrier participates in WEA, you will receive a notification on your phone.
The test will last 30 minutes and will look like this: “THIS IS A TEST OF THE National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action required” or “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita actión”, depending on your language settings.
This is generally a good thing, since an effective emergency notification system is vital if there is a critical situation where the entire country needs to be notified. However, this also puts those with hidden mobile phones in a difficult situation.
Hidden phones are in danger
Of course, there are many legitimate ways to use a secret cell phone, especially for victims of abuse. A hidden cell phone can be a lifeline, and keeping that cell phone secret from an attacker is essential. Generally, keeping a mobile phone silent at all times is enough to ensure its safety: even if an unexpected call comes in, it won’t ring or vibrate, so whether it’s at the bottom of a drawer or in a ceiling tile, it won’t make itself known.
Other emergency alerts can also be avoided. Although these alerts sound by default, any phone has settings that allow you to turn off features such as AMBER alerts, public safety alerts, and general emergency alerts. These settings are necessary for those who hide their phone from others at home.
Unfortunately, Wednesday’s test bypasses any settings you disable on your phone, as well as the system-wide silence option. This is the law . It doesn’t matter whether you turn off Emergency Alerts on your iPhone or turn off sound and vibration. Once this test runs, your phone will scream.
How to stop the emergency alert test from sounding on your phone
So the only effective way to keep your phone silent during Wednesday’s test is to turn it off completely. If you have a phone with a removable battery, remove it just in case. Leaving your phone completely switched off is the only way to not connect to the test, which means it’s the only way to remain completely silent.
Since the test is only supposed to last 30 minutes, you can safely turn it back on at 2:50 pm ET. However, it may be better to wait a little longer to make sure the test is completely completed before turning your phone back on and connecting to the network again. If the test is delayed for any reason, you don’t want to accidentally blow your cover.
There is also a backup date in case the test is canceled on Wednesday: October 11th. In this case, be sure to repeat the procedure in a week.
How to turn off emergency alerts on your phone
While you can’t turn off this national test, you can mute other emergency alerts on your phone, reducing the risk of someone finding your phone.
On iPhone, you’ll find these options at the bottom of Settings > Notifications . Most Android devices have Settings > Security & Emergency > Wireless Emergency Alerts .