Frequently Asked Questions
A Faraday bag is a signal blocking bag that blocks wireless signals to and from your device, ensuring your device remains isolated and protected from wireless communication. The aim of the bag is to enhance privacy, security and protect you from EMFs emitted by your devices.
There are certain shielding effectiveness tests conducted by independent laboratories that should be undertaken by the manufacturer to ensure the Faraday product is going to do its job, which is to: (a) protect your privacy by blocking device tracking, hacking, wiping, eavesdropping etc; (b) protect the data on your devices from electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and coronal mass ejections (CME), electrostatic discharges (ESD) and solar flares; and (c) protect you from exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by your devices.
For example, Mission Darkness™ holds two certifications, both issued by Keystone Compliance:
- MIL-STD-188-125 certifies against HEMP (High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse), which preserves the working integrity of electronic devices in the event of EMP, CME, ESD, solar flares (see https://keystonecompliance.com/mil-std-188-125-1/)
- IEEE 299-2006 certifies the effectiveness of electromagnetic shielding enclosures (see https://keystonecompliance.com/ieee-299/)
Keystone Compliance is a USA accredited regulatory compliance laboratory. MIL-STD-188-125 not only ensures that the products shield against HEMPs, CMEs, ESDs and solar flares, but provides concrete proof to the shielding ability and effectiveness of the products. It’s important to be aware of the shielding specifications your Faraday bag offers, to ensure it protects against these types of events.
OffGrid products also hold the MIL-STD-188-125 certification.
If you buy a Faraday product that doesn’t meet these standards, you are wasting your money and risk your privacy, data security and health! Many manufacturers of Faraday products say that they have tested their products, but this can be misleading as usually that testing is done by the manufacturer and just does not hold credibility.
The IEEE 299-2006 (1 – 40GHz) standard assesses the shielding effectiveness of materials. It provides a methodology for conducting tests evaluating the amount of electromagnetic interference (EMI) entering or leaving electronic devices. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) established this standard. It determines the protection level provided by shielding material against EMI.
MIL-STD-188-125-1 and MIL-STD-188-125-2 are military standards that outline the criteria for testing the shielding effectiveness of electronic components and systems. This standardization assesses the capacity of electronic components and systems to safeguard against the effects of electromagnetic interference (EMI). EMI can cause errors in data transmission, degrade system performance, and potentially trigger system failure. They also provide guidance on the testing of the ability of ground-based facilities to survive a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) attack.
An electromagnetic pulse is a phenomenon that has been attracting attention in recent years due to its potential to cause widespread damage to electronic devices and critical infrastructure. One of the main concerns with EMPs is their potential to disrupt critical infrastructure, including power grids, communication systems and transportation systems. An EMP attack or a naturally occurring EMP from a solar flare could potentially leave entire cities without power for an extended period of time, causing widespread panic, chaos, and economic disruption. The effects of an EMP event could be catastrophic, and the threat of such an event is a growing concern for many countries and their governments.
As example of a threat of EMPs is from solar flares. Solar flares are natural events that occur when the sun experiences an increase in magnetic activity. These flares can produce EMPs that can have a significant impact on electronic devices.
The threat of EMPs has led to increased research and investment in EMP protection technologies. Faraday bags and cages, surge protectors, and backup power supplies are some of the measures being developed to protect electronic devices and critical infrastructure from EMP damage.
As the threat of EMPs continues to grow, it’s important for individuals and businesses take steps to protect their electronic devices.
Yes.
An electromagnetic pulse, referred to as an EMP, is a burst of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation that can occur naturally or be man-made. This powerful surge of energy can cause widespread damage to electronic devices, leading to permanent loss of data, malfunction, or complete failure of the affected equipment. With the increasing threat of EMP attacks and solar flares, protecting electronic devices from this harmful phenomenon is more important than ever.
Both Offgrid and Mission Darkness™ hold the military certification MIL-STD 188-125 for High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse protection. The testing was completed by Keystone Compliance, an accredited regulatory compliance laboratory. This compliance measure not only ensures that the products shield against high-altitude electromagnetic pulses (HEMPs) and related occurrences, such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), electrostatic discharges (ESDs), and solar flares, but provides concrete proof to the shielding ability and effectiveness of their products. It’s important to be aware of the shielding specifications your Faraday bag offers, to ensure it protects against EMPs, HEMPs, solar flares, and similar scenarios.
Faraday bags, cages, and RF shielding enclosures are simple solutions to protect against EMP damage. These enclosures are made from conductive material, typically metal-coated fabric, that creates an electromagnetic shield around the contents of the bag. When a device is placed inside a Faraday bag, the conductive material blocks the EMP’s high-frequency waves from penetrating the bag, thus preventing damage to the device.
Yes! Modern smartphones are made up of several systems and subsystems. One of these subsystems, often referred to as the base band, controls and operates the radio transmitter and receiver and operates interdependently from your phone’s main operating system. This allows your phone to appear to be “turned off” while the radio subsystem remains powered and operational.
When you turn your phone off it is quite possible that it is simply in a low power state with full receiving and transmitting capability and you would never know it. The screen will be off and there will be no detectable heat giving you the false impression that your phone is fully off and you are safe from tracking. A good example of this being used is Apple’s “Find My ” app…
According to Apple “Find My helps you locate this iPhone when it is lost or stolen, even when it is in power reserve mode or when powered off“.
We really do not know for sure what our phones, tablets, laptops and other mobile devices are really doing, and for those with a very high need for privacy, the Mission Darkness and OffGrid Faraday products provide significant additional peace of mind.
Many people live and or work in places or situations where they don’t feel safe turning their phone off. It takes much longer to power up your phone or take photographs in an emergency than it does to simply pull the phone out of a Faraday bag and wait 2 seconds for it to reconnect to the network.
If you want selective privacy and are going somewhere where you do not want to be tracked as a data point in your location tracking history, you simply put your phone in a Faraday bag while you go about your business, and take it out when you’re sufficiently far from the location that you don’t want tracked.
The more frequently you simply drop the phone in the Faraday bag when not in use, the less your location will be tracked and the more privacy you will have.
No! Even if you turn your location locations services setting off on your phone, your phone is connecting to cell towers and your location is recorded by your carrier. Carriers have been caught selling this location data in the past and there is little trust they will not keep doing it.
Many phones manufacturers and apps have also repeatedly been caught disregarding location services settings and recording location data.
No! Setting your phone to airplane mode only prevents your phone from transmitting, not receiving. Your location history is still recorded by your phone and transmitted later when you turn off airplane mode. The Mission Darkness and OffGrid Faraday bags prevent this by blocking incoming GPS, Cell, Wifi and Bluetooth signals used by your phone to record your location. With nothing being recorded, there is nothing to later share or transmit.
It shouldn’t ring! The whole point of using a Faraday bag is to block all wireless signals to and from the device inside the bag (phone, tablet, laptop etc). If the phone rings whilst inside the Faraday bag or the laptop connects to Bluetooth or wifi, then the bag isn’t doing its job. Some cheaper bags on the market still allow calls or texts to come through, or allow the device inside to connect to Bluetooth or wifi. Beware of buying such low quality products. A military-certified Faraday bag will not only block all wireless signals, but it should protect your privacy and significantly reduce your EMF exposure from the device.
While your phone is in the Faraday bag, any incoming or outgoing signals to your phone will be cut off. You will not receive any calls, text messages or app notifications. When you remove the phone from the bag it will reconnect to the network and begin to receive notifications and messages you missed while it was in the bag. Any calls or voice messages should also come through.
Personal privacy, data security and even your physical security is increasingly vulnerable to a growing number of threats.
- Malware can be purchased online and pushed to your devices through un-secure wifi and through public charging stations, or sent to your phone through phishing or other means. Malware can:
- acquire sensitive data – call logs, text messages, files and passwords
- detect your location
- eavesdrop on conversations
- control the camera on your device
- activate and track your phone, even when it’s turned off
- Car key fobs continuously broadcast a security code which unlocks the door and allows you to start your car. Thieves can purchase cheap devices online that can clone the signal, open your car door from a distance and drive off with your vehicle.
- Employers are legally allowed to use device management software to monitor location and data on company devices. Most of us “Agree” in Terms of Use to allow apps to access our devices, monitor our behavior and location, and use that data to target us with advertising, offers, and tailored information.
- Geofencing technology is increasingly used to capture data on target visitors at events and political rallies, if they have location data enabled on their phone, which most people tend to do by default.
You can protect your mobile phones, tablets, laptops, hard drives, USB drives, smart watches, Bitcoin hardware wallets, GPS systems, electronic car key fobs, credit cards, passports, access control cards, power generators, solar panels, and any sensitive electronics that need protection from EMP and static electricity.
You can also reduce your physical exposure to EMFs, bluetooth, wifi and other wireless signals by covering your body with a Faraday blanket and protect your head by wearing a hat or beanie.
Well, you can, but it is not effective enough to call a solution and will not protect your device from an EMP nor block ALL signals. Best to leave the tinfoil for use in the kitchen!
Yes, because your phone’s alarm is not reliant on cellular or wireless service.
Yes! As long as the music has been downloaded onto your phone and does not need data or wifi to play.
