Smartphones are very expensive hence the high risk of owning them. Here are 7 tips that you can use to keep them safe and also yourself.
1. Add owner contact information to your device:
You should add enough contact information to your Smartphone that can be used to contact you in case it gets lost in the wild and some Good Samaritan finds it. You can just add your first name and last initial, and a phone number of a relative or a friend that can get in touch with you about your lost device. This is like a pet tag for your Phone or Android.
2. Block your phone number whenever necessary:
There are some people or businesses that collect people’s numbers and any information attached to them then use the information for profit. When you call a business that you suspect might collect your number, it is good to block your number to thwart their effort. Alternatively, you can use Google Voice call businesses that will enable you to block any incoming call that is not in your phonebook; that will help if you don’t want to toggle number blocking on and off just for businesses.
3. Do not answer spam calls:
Some telemarketing services call people’s number just to find out whether the numbers are actually active. Once the number goes through, they put it on a list that they sell to other companies. This will make you receive even more spam calls and even texts. Sometimes you may find yourself incurring charges for unsolicited text messages if you are not on an unlimited plan.
The best advice is to use a caller ID solution to figure out who is calling instead of picking up and confirming your number. On Android, Current Caller ID by Whitepages will display caller information as small window on the incoming call screen, while on iOS, you’ll have to install Truecaller and take a screenshot of an incoming call for the app to identify the caller.
4. Set a lock code:
In case you are going out with your phone, use a lock code. Remember your phone contains so much personal information that you might not want thieves or some nosy people to access. These include your phonebook entries, e-mails, texts and even pictures.
You can use a strong password with letters, numbers and characters, or you can use a PIN.
5. You should enable ‘Do Not Track’ function in your Web browser:
Are you aware that any information you provide on a website is collected so as to serve you with relevant advertisements? The ‘Do Not Track’ function will block the website from collecting you data. Browsers like Safari on iOS and Google Chrome for Android will allow you to set ‘Do Not Track’.
6. Use of recovery app:
With the recovery app on iOS and Android you can lock down access to your phone and even find its current GPS location in case you have misplaced it. So you need not panic when you’ve just realized that your Smartphone isn’t in your pocket.
7. Physical theft:
Finally, there is a threat of physical theft. To combat this, keep a firm grip, put the device in a hard-to-access place and refrain from telling everyone that you have an amazing new Smartphone.
