“We recognise the importance of being able to easily and quickly notify people when there’s a risk to life.” States Yasmin Khan, CEO, Staying Put. “However, we also want to ensure the continued safety of domestic and sexual abuse survivors. We would therefore encourage anyone who has a hidden phone to turn this alert off”
We are concerned that the planned Emergency Alert System could put domestic abuse survivors at risk if they have a mobile phone hidden from a perpetrator. If you have a hidden mobile phone, here’s how to turn off the alert.
What is the Emergency Alert System?
The UK government will be launching an Emergency Alerts system which will warn people when lives are in danger. The system is set up to alert against events such as severe flooding or fires.
There is a national test of this message at 3pm on Sunday the 23rd April. Your mobile phone will emit a loud, siren like sound with a screen message and vibration. The emergency alerts will be sent to compatible mobile phones (4G and 5G) within an area of risk.
How to opt out
Opt Out iPhone:
- To opt out, go to ‘settings’ and in your search bar type in ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.
- If this does not work, contact your device manufacturer.
Opt Out Android phones and tablets:
- To opt out, go to ‘settings’ and in your search bar type in ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.
- On Huawei devices running EMUI 11 or older, search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ and please turn off “Extreme threats”, “Severe threats” and “Show amber alerts”
- If this does not work, contact your device manufacturer
Fore more information, please look at the government website here.
Refuge has put together a really helpful video on twitter to explain how to manage the alerts on androids and iPhones here.
