Last spring, cell service providers launched a Wireless Emergency Alert system. This system has been slowly rolled out ever since then. If you are an AT&T customer, you may notice some emergency alerts coming through to your phone now.
So what exactly is WEA?
WEA is a system where local, state and federal agencies can send an emergency text message to smartphones. Luckily for your wallet, these emergency alerts don’t count against your text message plan and typically should be fewer than 90 characters.
There are three types of alerts that this system uses. The first is for “imminent threats.” This could mean anything from flood or tornado warnings to security threats. The second covers AMBER alerts (America’s Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response), which are alerts for missing children. The third and final alert is used for breaking Presidential messages.
Two out of the three alerts have an opt-out feature: imminent threats and AMBER alerts. This means that by default, when your carrier settings have been updated, they are on. You’ll need to then turn those off if you don’t want to know there is a hurricane about to blow by your house or that your neighbor’s kid is missing. (But you would, right? Well, it’s up to you!)
If you really want to disable these WEA alerts on your iPhone simply:
- Go to Settings
- Go to Notifications
- Scroll all the way to the bottom to Government Alerts
- Turn off or on whichever you alerts you desire
I have only received one alert in the past year since the system was introduced, and that was when Vermont was getting some heavy rain. I got it while at work, and it was funny to see the confused looks on people’s faces when they got the same notifications. Ultimately, I think this is a good move on society’s part to help out one another; kudos to the person or persons responsible for this!