On Sunday 23 April there will be a national UK Emergency Alert test. This new Emergency Alert system is being rolled out by the government and will notify all phones with an alert sound – including when they are on silent.
We are aware that such an alert, including the sound, could cause anxiety for a number of vulnerable people including those with a learning disability, those with autism or victims and survivors of domestic abuse who have a secret phone that they may hide from an abusive partner.
What You Need To Know:
· The alert will be sent to everyone on Sunday 23rd April 2023 at around 3pm.
· The alert will include a text message, vibrations and a siren noise for 10 seconds.
· You will not receive the alert if your phone is on airplane mode, turned off, is Wi-fi only or is incompatible.
How To Opt-Out:
1. Search your phone settings for ’emergency alerts’
2. Turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’
Refuge has kindly provided a video to inform victims and survivors how to ensure their secret phone does not play the notifying sound and become detected: https://youtu.be/u7jsz8H-muo
