Rumor – Federal Government ‘Taking Control’ of Texas Phones?

The state motto for the state of Texas is "Friendship". That word sums up very nicely the way we feel about who we are and those around us. We are a proud group of people who work together as one for the common good. That's what friends do.

We also believe that friends know where their rights end and ours begin. In other words, we are quite friendly until you start sticking your nose in places where it does not belong. Texans are a proud yet private kind of people. We support our government but we don't need any "bureaucratic fingers" getting stuck in our "personal pies".

No, we are not "against the government" we are simply against some of those in government who "make bad policy". I will let you use your own filters to decide who those officials are behind the "bad policy". But regardless of your affiliations in the voting booth, most of us in Texas can agree on one thing.

We don't want anybody messing around with our phones.

Cellphone privacy is such a hot topic issue that the device makers go to extraordinary lengths to make "hacking our device and data" virtually impossible. Even when law enforcement could use the data to potentially solve a crime, that data remains sacred.

I think in America we believe people are "entitled to hear what we have to say" but are "not entitled to know what we really think". That's why we are always quick to spout our opinions on social media sites. Then we get really freaked out when someone grabs our phone and starts scrolling through our pictures.

You can't deny that you don't do that. But the the one "person" we never want in our phone is "Big Brother" or "Uncle Sam" or The United States Government. Unfortunately, they already have the ability to control your phone and actually take it over. They did it last year. But they won't be doing it this year.

You might recall last fall all of America's cellphones exploded with a warning tone and an important message. It was a test of the Emergency Alert System. You've heard those on your radio for years. Now they can do them with cell phones, which is actually a good idea.

What makes it a bad idea is that it's proof that at any given moment the federal government can interrupt your cellphone communications and keep you locked out for as long as they desire. But it won't happen this year. At least as a test, it won't happen.

FEMA, the folks who bring you mediocre natural disaster recovery and are also known as the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced that there will be no national EAS test this year. That means no "planned" government intrusion into your personal devices.

It could also mean that if you do get a national alert something really bad has happened. Let's hope that won't be the case. But just in case your phone "explodes" remember, this is not a test, this is an actual...well you know how the dialogue goes.