More and more these days people receive alerts via their cell phones. From storm alerts to amber alerts, everyone gets alerts. Today’s post will cover How to Opt Out Of Emergency Alerts On Your Cell Phone
What Is The Wireless Emergency Alert System
The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), is also known as the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) or Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN). The system is a national emergency alert system to send concise, text-like messages to users’ WEA-capable mobile devices. The bill authorizing the WEA was signed into law in April 2012. All the major wireless providers signed-off (agreed) to participate in the emergency alert system.
There are three different kinds of alerts:
- Presidential Alerts – Alerts issued by the President or a designee;
- Imminent Threat Alerts – Alerts that include severe man-made or natural disasters. Things like hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc., where an imminent threat to life or property exists; and
- AMBER Alerts– Alerts that meet the U.S. Department of Justice’s criteria to help law enforcement search for and locate an abducted child.
While these alerts will appear on a person’s mobile device similar to a text message, Wireless Emergency Alerts are not text messages. Instead, Wireless Emergency Alerts use a different kind of technology to ensure they are delivered immediately and are not subjected to potential congestion (or delays) on wireless networks. For those who wish to not get these messages, here is How to Opt Out Of Emergency Alerts On Your Device
How does this work
In a nutshell, if your phone is on, it is connected to the nearest cell phone tower it can find, and it will stay connected to that tower until the phone finds another tower that it thinks is closer. If a message needs to get sent out, the cell phone companies will send out the message to the designated towers and if your phone is connected to one of these towers you get the alert.
One of the complaints of the messaging system is that it will alert you, with sound, even if your phone is on silent or vibrate (and the sound is loud). Furthermore messages can be sent at any time, 24 hours a day. One noteworthy alert in California, had an amber alert sent out in the middle of the night (about 2am or so) waking up and freighting a large number of people who were not expecting to hear that go off while they were asleep.
In the following report by Tech Feed, Annie talks about the wireless alert system and the California alert and shows you some ways to opt out of the alerts.
iPhone
To turn off the alerts on an iPhone
- open the Settings icon
- click on Notifications and scroll down the screen to the bottom where you will see Government Alerts
- this is the screen where Amber and Emergency alerts can be turned off (Presidential Alerts don’t have that option)
Android
For most Android phones
- open the Messaging app
- press the Menu button and then Settings
- furthermore, scroll until you see Emergency Alerts, select it
- this is the screen where you can turn off Amber and weather notifications.
Additional questions/answers can be found on the FEMA website
Source(s)
