Does anyone know if there is a way to BLOCK Trump's FEMA "emergency test" phone

[Atticus]

call this coming Thursday?

I don't want to participate in any call unless I can talk back to Tangerine Amin.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Apparently not.

The presidential alert is one of three kinds of alerts in the FEMA's WEA system, which also notifies the public about extreme weather or missing children, also known as AMBER alerts.

You can expect to see the alert pop up on your phone at 2:18 p.m. ET so long as you have your phone turned on, are within range of a cell tower, and if your wireless provider is part of the WEA system.

The WEA test will be broadcast over the course of about 30 minutes and sound the same as an AMBER Alert. Users can't opt out of the presidential alert test, according to FEMA.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/15/politics/fema-presidential-alert-trump-emergency-test/index.html

If you turn off your phone the message will probably pop up when you turn it back on again. We can't escape. I'll switch mine off just to see if the phone stores the message.

[Siwsan]

2. Everything I've seen says there's nothing we can do to block it

I'm concerned this is just the start of what he's going to do, when it comes to sending texts to our phones.

[sheshe2]

5. That is my concern as well, Siwsan.

Propaganda tweets.

[Siwsan]

9. And veiled threats

I don't put anything past him.

[sheshe2]

12. That too.

Also a way of tracking us?

[nolabear]

21. I want to know if fake texts can be sent supposedly from a phone.

Police and jealous lovers and all kinds of people can infer quite a few things from text records. Can they be manipulated someday?

[sheshe2]

22. I just don't know anymore. nt

[smirkymonkey]

16. This just enrages me.

I do not want to hear from him EVER. I feel like this is a violation of our privacy. Where will the line be drawn?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. There is not.

https://www.fema.gov/emergency-alert-test

12. Why can I not opt out of the Presidential Alert category on my cell phone?

The Communications Act of 1934 established the authority for the President to use certain private sector communications systems for priority communications, such as sending alert and warning messages to the public, during national emergencies. The implementation of this legislation is what enables the Emergency Alert System to be used by government authorities at all levels of government to send alert and warnings via private sector radio, television and cable stations in coordination with the private sector station owners. In 2006, The Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act of 2006 prompted the Federal Communications Commission to adopt regulations enabling the wireless industry to participate in the distribution of public alerts and warnings also. The WARN Act further established that the wireless alerting service should allow wireless subscribers the capability of opting out of receiving alerts, other than an alert issued by the President.

On the other hand, depending on your phone/carrier/location, you may not receive an alert at all:

13. Why will some phones receive the alert and others will not?

Only WEA compatible cell phones that are switched on and within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA will be capable of receiving the test message.

[C_U_L8R]

7. How about everyone turn their phones off

at 2:15 and leave them off for, say, 40 or 60 minutes?
Could be quite an ad hoc protest.

[Atticus]

10. Would that even "register"? i.e., would anyone know? nt?

[C_U_L8R]

11. They would know

That less phones are online. And that less messages were received.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. What, pray tell, are WEA compatible cell phones?

How can I figure out if that's the kind of phone I have?

I suspect that only "smart" phones are in that category. Lucky me, no smart phone here. I have a fairly dumb one (other phones make fun of it and won't play with it at recess) although it can make and receive texts. I think I continue to be glad I have a dumb phone. (I give it pep talks daily, tell it those other phones are just meanies and to ignore them.)

[llmart]

4. Yes, don't own a cell phone.

[underthematrix]

6. I'm going to turn my cell off from 11am (2pm Eastern)

until 11:30 (2:30pm)

I've a;ready turned off my notifications.

[Claritie Pixie]

8. I have an iPhone and can turn off Goverment Alerts in settings.

I will turn that setting to OFF on Thursday.

[GulfCoast66]

14. This is a fact based community. The facts are important.

This is not a Trump program. It was passed with bi-partisan support and signed into law by President Obama.

Certainly not saying Trump will not try to abuse it, but this was not created as a nefarious plot.

In my opinion if he did try to use it for nefarious means, it would be the most personally damaging thing he would have done yet. No one, conservative or liberal likes the idea of government controlling their phones. Or even knowing where they are.

[Girard442]

29. That's true, but the test will be a message from Donald Trump.

There was no reason for this to be about him, but it is. He's already abusing it.

[GulfCoast66]

34. Well then the republicans will pay a real price

Most people excepting his wingnut supporters will be repulsed at the idea of the president sending them politicized texts on a pushed text.

Let’s wait and see what really happens before getting worked up about it.

Might be more mojo for the blue wave. More likely a non event. Americans do not do traditional media anymore. The Emergency Alerts we all grew up with are reaching less and less of our fellow Americans.

President Obama and 100% of congress realized we needed to update the system.

[Hekate]

31. Thank you. The reactions are a little over the top. It's Obama-signed FEMA. nt

[TygrBright]

15. I understand it's a text alert. Disable your text function?

We actually pay to block texts on our cell phone service and my Nokia phone doesn't have a text function, so I don't expect to get any howdies from Weehands McNodick.

::hat tip to the Ferret::

serenely,
Bright

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. Yours is the PERFECT response, my dear TygrBright!

I am laughing out loud!

[Doreen]

17. I ask again.

Please tell me what time it will happen in PT. I can turn my phone off for the time being and can delete the text without having to look at it when I turn it back on.

[unblock]

19. 11:18am pacific time Thursday.

[Doreen]

24. Thank You.

I will have it off for about an hour. I think I can survive without my cell for that long.

[unblock]

25. Not sure, but that might mean you'll just get the text when you finally turn it on....

[Doreen]

27. I can delete it without having to see it.

If my phone was on I would have to see it first but when my phone goes on from off I do not have to look.

[Hortensis]

18. Oh, brother. It's a FEMA test. Let it work now

and hope the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system works well when you need it. I'm sure we've paid a lot of money for it.

I don't like that ass playing with it for self aggrandizement, either, but then I also don't like having to live with all those people who voted like asses or refused to vote like asses. Trump is the reflection in a mirror too many Americans don't dare look into.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. It's just going to be some boilerplate text. Post-trump it could be pretty handy tool.

[erronis]

23. AFAIK, you're phone is not "off" as long as it still has power. Remove the battery or put it in a

Faraday shield (really just wrap it in 2-3 layers of tinfoil.)

With my new android phone that says it's water-proof, I may wait until his text comes in to drop it in the toilet before my AM dump.

[dameatball]

28. I hope he just calls me direct. I have some things to say. Respectfully. Kinda.

[Blue_true]

32. Just turn your phone off between 2-3.

You can read incoming texts later, or just delete them without reading.

I considered turning my phone off, but will leave it on. I want to see what the idiot texts.

[Hekate]

33. Anyone online in any respect has already given away their privacy. Actually, not given exactly...

Last edited Mon Sep 17, 2018, 03:21 AM - Edit history (1)

But we have all paid handsomely for the privilege of losing our privacy, not to the government per se, but to corporate entities who collect every scrap of information and who follow you around electronically via your cell phones and iPads.

People, you give it all away for the privilege of posting on Face Book and using a smart phone. What did you think was going to happen?

[GulfCoast66]

35. Lord, this is turning into the liberal version of Jade Helm.

President Obama signed this into law because our old emergency response system relied on network TV and over the airwaves Radio, which fewer and fewer people use.

Don’t fall for the hyperbole

If it gets abused, then take action.

But like President Obama felt, it seems like a good idea.

[Hekate]

36. Yes, it certainly seems to be. nt

[maxrandb]

37. We had that chance in November 2016

But since both parties are the same...