"How do I opt out?" Domestic violence survivors put at risk by Emergency Alerts test
Three survivors of domestic violence have told LBC of the dangers the Emergency Alerts test at 3pm on Sunday 7th September 2025 will have for those with hidden phones.
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Warning: Distressing content
For women or men trapped in violent relationships, a hidden second phone could be their only lifeline.
Abusers often monitor or track their victim’s mobile phones – restricting their opportunity to reach out to family and friends, domestic abuse helplines, or emergency services.
A second phone could be hidden in a safe space, containing emergency contacts or escape plans, that abusers have not yet managed to track.
But the sounding of the siren-like alarm during the Emergency Alerts test at 3pm on Sunday 7th September 2025 could compromise the secret location of the device, and have life-threatening consequences for the survivor.
Disabling ‘Emergency Alerts’ settings is one way to keep that lifeline safe.
*The use of (*) indicates a pseudonym used by survivors who wish to remain anonymous.
Briony*, from Buckinghamshire, hid a secret phone from her partner after he threatened to kill her, and to take away their child.
Briony and her daughter were forced to live under a curfew, only allowed out of the house with pre-approved friends and family under a 3-hour time limit.
"Things had got so bad, I just never knew what he was going to do." Briony said.
“I never knew what it was going to take… do I need to be six feet under to escape this man?”
Briony used her hidden phone to have secret conversations with friends and family, after it appeared her former partner had found a way to hack in to or clone her main device.
“You would always have to make sure it was somewhere safe, inaccessible, on silent, and always safely hidden.” She said.
“We never knew when we were going to need to run, and I was always worried that my phone was being tracked.”
“That phone was there as a lifeline to get out if we needed,” she explained.
Briony said the abuse she endured would have got even worse if the alert had revealed the location of her hidden phone.
"If I was ever found with another phone, his first initial go to would be 'Is there another man?' And everything would've clamped down even more.
“I can tell you now he would've wanted cameras up.”
She told LBC she feels less prepared for this alert than during the first test in April 2023, and that she only knew of timings for the alert because of giving this interview.
In South Wales, Shannon*’s long-term partner hid a recording device in their home – listening in on her calls to friends and family, as well as to her local domestic abuse victim support services.
"If an alarm went off,” Shannon said, “he would definitely find the phone in close proximity to the recording device and investigate.”
“Nowadays this would’ve been elevated, with recordings and video evidence of where I’m running to find the alarm.”
Shannon told LBC that the sound of the alert, even when she is prepared for the test alarm to sound, would trigger distressing thoughts for her – and would cause her to worry about women currently experiencing abuse in relationships.
“If the alarm goes off [on a hidden phone], the perpetrator could find that and put a tracking device on it.” She explained.
“It's horrible to understand. We've got to think out-of-the-box, and about the worst scenarios of these things.
“You're trying to keep everything so secretive, and then you’ve got that added thing…
“You’re petrified in those situations.”
Rachaele Hambleton
Rachaele Hambleton is a survivor, author and content creator based in Torbay, Devon – known online by ‘Part Time Working Mummy’.
She founded ‘The Patchwork House’ women’s centre in Torquay after fleeing abuse perpetrated by her long-term partner.
She told LBC that her main concern is women not seeing social media campaigns about the alert in time.
"We've emailed all of our ladies on the contacts we've got that are safe for them.
"The biggest issue which worries me is that the majority of women in abusive relationships aren't on social media. They're not allowed, or their social media is managed and monitored.” She explained.
“It’s great that Women's Aid and Refuge are putting the messages out, but what if they're not looking? What if they're not on social media?”
Rachaele says the alert will cause more harm than good, calling for the UK Government to think of another method of warning people of severe weather or flooding.
“If there was a natural disaster now, we would know without that massive alarm going off on our phone – as we have for hundreds of years.
"I don’t think it should be a thing. It’s putting women at risk. It’s life or death.”
Pat McFadden, the UK Government minister who signed off the alert, told LBC:"Broadly speaking, this is a good addition to our ability to warn people in danger to life situations such as a real danger of flooding or a threat to life under a particularly severe storm.”
"We are aware that any test given through a mobile phone might mean there are some people who don't want to receive that, and that's why we're trying to do as much as we can before Sunday to tell people there is a way to switch this off.”
How to silence the Alert
How you opt out of receiving Emergency Alerts differs depending on your device. It is possible that turning off a phone will only delay the alarm from sounding.
Refuge Step-by-Step Guide: Click Here
iPhone
1. Select the ‘Notifications’ menu in Settings
2. Turn off ‘Severe Alerts’ and ‘Extreme Alerts’
Android Phones
1. Find ‘Emergency Alerts’ in Settings
2. Turn off ‘Severe Alerts’ and ‘Extreme Alerts’
Different names could be used for your emergency alert settings, depending on the manufacturer and software version of your device, such as ‘Wireless Emergency Alerts’ or ‘Emergency Broadcasts’.
Other Phones and Tablets
The option to disabled emergency alerts can usually be found by searching for ‘Severe Alerts’, ‘Extreme Alerts’, or ‘Test Alerts’ in the settings of your tablet or other mobile device.