Do you have a reason to be worried about October 4, 2023? Many in Missouri and other states believe you do and are planning on turning their cell phones off on October 4th. I'll explain the theories why and how they might not be as crazy as you might think.

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Let's get the provable facts out of the way. Yes, there will be a mandatory test on October 4, 2023 at approximately 1:20pm central time. This is not a conspiracy theory. The FEMA website provides what's going on and why:

The purpose of the Oct. 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level.

FEMA goes on to say that "the test will be directed to all consumer cell phones". As you might guess, this has many screaming about privacy concerns and what the test is really about.

There are many of my Missouri friends who have indicated they are planning to turn their mobile devices off on October 4 because they believe that the government will be collecting data including the location of each cell phone and the owners whereabouts.

While some laugh that this is crazy paranoia, some in the intelligence community (past and especially present) say that it is possible for the government to access any cell phones they want and "tests" like the one on October 4, 2023 are used to gather information to make that even easier in the future.

But, even if the conspiracy theories are correct, does it really stop the government from gathering information about your cell phone even if it's turned off.

The McAfee security website says your phone has location services that can be tracked even when off, but not everyone agrees. The Make Use Of website claims Android phones cannot be tracked when turned off as all of the phones services (including location) are disabled.

Is there a reason to be concerned about what the government is up to on October 4, 2023? That's a question only you can answer. Just don't be surprised if you have many friends who don't answer their phones that day if you try to call. These theories might be why.

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