[US] A nationwide emergency alert will be sent to all U.S. cellphones Wednesday
A nationwide test of the emergency and wireless alert systems will be conducted Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. ET, when a message will be sent to all cellphones, TVs and radios.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a news release in August that a message that reads, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed,” will be sent to all phones. A Spanish version of the message will be displayed depending on the language settings of the devices.
A separate message will be sent to radios and televisions, saying, "This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public."
The test is a joint operation between FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission, meant to “ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level,” according to the August news release.
If anyone has a powered cell phone they don't want someone in their household to know about, power it off.
Wow, good call out. That never crossed my mind.
My ho phone will be off. Thank you for your service
Ho ho ho!
And leave it off at least until the end of the hour, until the alerts have timed out
If it's being sent over the cell phone carrier signal, does that mean if you're at home, or otherwise connected to Wi-Fi, that you won't get it?
No, even on WiFi your phone maintains its cellular signal, even data depending on your settings (it's just not actively used as wifi will be considered superior).
why would someone have that?
To expand on the abusive relationship aspect, say your partner, parents, etc. want to keep you from contacting people, maybe your family/friends, maybe the police, maybe your doctor (for example to seek abortion services, or maybe treatment for a health issue they've been trying to withhold medication from you for) they may check your phone to see who you've been contacting or even take your phone from you to prevent you from using it.
There's also of course less savory reasons, cheating, dealing drugs, or other illegal activities.
And somewhat less likely, undercover officers, FBI agents, investigative journalists, etc. whose cover could potentially be compromised if the wrong people are around and that second phone goes off.
As an undercover FBI agent, thanks for the heads up
As a non-undercover Agent, you arent supposed to tell people that.
Abusive relationships.
And wrap it in tinfoil. Even "off" phones can be woken up and forced to display messages.
That's absolutely not true