Emergency Alert Test Poses Risk to Victims and Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Emergency Alert Test Poses Risk To Victims And Survivors Of Domestic Abuse

Kara Swift, a Senior Associate at FLiP, warns of the risk the emergency alert test on Sunday 7th September at 3pm poses for victims and survivors of domestic abuse with hidden phones/devices. Kara provides advice to those who might be affected.  

The UK Government are testing an emergency alert service at 3pm on Sunday 7 September 2025 which will cause certain mobile phones and tablets to vibrate and sound a loud siren-like alarm even if the devices are set to silent.  Devices will also vibrate and read aloud the alert with the siren lasting for around 10 seconds. This will happen even if the device is not connected to mobile data or wifi.

Note – not all devices will receive the alert. Older phones or those not connected to 4G or 5G networks may not be compatible with the system. You can find more detailed information about device compatibility at gov.uk/alerts.

For victims and survivors of domestic abuse with hidden phones/devices the sounding of the alarm could pose a risk. Those who need their devices to remain concealed should opt out of the system ahead of 3pm on Sunday.

To opt out of the alerts, search in the settings for notifications and scroll to the bottom. You should then see two options ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’. Toggle them to grey to turn off.  Refuge have helped information on how to disable the alert below:

https://refugetechsafety.org/emergency-alerts/