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Turn on your phone’s theft protection
Your phone is very valuable in the wrong hands — and not just if you have a snazzy, new iPhone 16 Pro Max that costs as much as a mortgage payment. Even a cheap smartphone is loaded with logins, personal data and financial info. Think of it as instant access to everything.
The good news is Google and Apple have built-in theft protection features. They’re easy to enable and come in clutch if your phone is ever lost or stolen. Set it up now while you’re thinking about it, OK?
Android pals, you first
The latest Android 15 upgrade introduced Google’s Theft Detection Lock. It uses AI to detect sudden movement — like a crook snatching your phone and running, biking or driving away — and locks your phone in response.
Before you enable it, be sure there’s a password on your lock screen. In your settings, look for Security or Lock screen & security. Here, you can set a password, PIN or pattern.
Now it’s time to enable this smart, new security feature:
- Open Settings > Google > All Services > Theft Protection.
- Turn on Theft Detection Lock.
FYI: Theft Detection Lock works with phones running Android 10 or later. It’ll drop on newer phones first, so don’t panic if it’s not in your settings yet.
On to my iPhone buddies
Stolen Device Protection kicks on when your iPhone is away from familiar locations, like work or home. It adds extra security requirements to prevent a thief from making changes to your account or device.
- Your phone will require a Face ID sign-in if anyone is trying to access your passwords or credit cards. There’s also no passcode alternative, so only your face can unlock it. Nice.
- Security Delay makes whoever has your phone wait an hour before they can change your Apple account password. That’s enough time for you to wipe your stolen phone remotely.
If your iPhone runs iOS 17.3 or later, you can turn on Stolen Device Protection. Before you do, though, make sure you have two-factor authentication on, Location Services enabled, Face ID or Touch ID on, and Find My iPhone set up. Then:
- Go to Settings > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode and enter your passcode.
- Tap Stolen Device Protection and turn it on.
By default, Stolen Device Protection kicks in only when your phone is away from your familiar locations. You can override that for extra protection.
- Go to Settings > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > Stolen Device Protection.
- Under Require Security Delay, choose Always.
🤗 Now, be a pal and pass this along to a friend or family member who could use some extra security smarts, too. Speaking of, to the person who stole my Limbo stick, how low can you go? (Argh, even I groaned when I wrote that!)
Tags: protection, screen lock, smartphones, stealing, theft
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