In an earlier blog post I shared a dirty little secret about the time I forgot my smart phone at the gym. Not only did I leave it on the treadmill, but at that time, it wasn’t passcode protected. Thankfully, I got it back before anyone else got a hold of it. But it scared me enough to immediately put a passcode on it. Not to mention the shame associated with losing it, unprotected, when you own a company whose purpose it is to keep people’s data secure!
Now there are applications that can actually help you locate your lost or stolen Android or Apple smart phone and even wipe the data on them remotely. For anyone concerned about smart phone data security, these applications are something to seriously consider.
According to ConsumerReports.org approximately 3.1 million (yes, million) smart phones were stolen in 2013 and 1.4 million were lost and not retrieved. We store a lot of information on our phones, like:
- Photos
- Contacts
- Emails
- Banking information
- Personal lists
- Much more!
That is why smart phone data security is something to take serious and why you might want to consider the “locate and wipe” applications mentioned earlier.
The How-To-Geek has good, easy to follow, step-by-step instructions for both Android and iPhones. The articles show you how to set up the application that will allow you to locate your Android or iPhone smart phones and wipe them, if necessary.
Consumer Reports listed the following ways people can enhance smart phone data security:
- Set a screen lock with a 4 digit PIN
- Back up data to a computer or online
- Install software that can locate the phone
- Use PIN longer than 4 digits, a password or unlock pattern
- Install software that can erase data remotely
- Use encryption
The interesting, and disconcerting, bit of information from their survey was that 34% of smart phone owners didn’t do anything to protect their data! If you fall into that 34%, then please consider taking even the first step toward smart phone data security – put a PIN, password, or passcode on your phone at the very least. If you use your phone for business purposes, then you will definitely want to consider taking one of the additional steps outlined here towards smart phone data security, since a data breach that involves your customers or employees could cost you significant money in the form of fines.
Remember that when you are ready to upgrade to the latest version of Android or iPhone that you are still responsible for smart phone data security. Having the proper documentation in your files to verify that you responsibly disposed of your old smart phones is a good thing – if that sounds like something that would be beneficial to you, your company, and your employees – contact us. Data destruction certification on all your data containing devices is a service we are proud to offer.