Mobile thefts - Security tips on this evenings program, 11th March.

AyJaydee

Just to avoid any misunderstandings, I need to clarify a couple of scenarios.

Unlike others that I frequently see, I don’t wear earbuds (feel no need to have constant music accompanying my every activity). When walking around, my phone is buried in the bottom of my bag, or in my pocket. If I do receive a call on the move, I stand still and check my immediate surroundings/move where my back is covered to guard against snatching.

If the phone is misplaced, I need to find/track it with another phone that may not be Apple. I have password managers on both my phone and laptop, but they are different and the laptop does not go out of the house. So the issue is, to track my phone using a borrowed phone, I will need to have my Apple password available on me in writing, which negates the security of a password manager.

PHK

Your problem would go away of you used the same password manager on phone, laptop and web. Bitwarden is excellent in my opinion. 

Regarding your question about fingerprint readers. 

There is a 1 in 50,000 chance of a false match

FaceID has a 1 in 100,000 chance of a false match. 

Vitor

Samsung phones have some useful protections in case of theft such as autolock if the motion sensors detect the phone is snatched 

flaneurs_lobster

Vitor said:

Samsung phones have some useful protections in case of theft such as autolock if the motion sensors detect the phone is snatched 

Think this is a Google feature from Android 14 onwards - Theft Protection under Settings/Security & Privacy.

There are some fun videos on YouTube of people testing out the Anti-theft system (the phone has to be violently "snatched" and then detected to be "running away").

Claims to use AI to detect proper muggings rather than you (say) playing squash with the phone in your pocket or your kid lobbing it out of the pram because he's seen that episode of Bluey 87 times.

Conclusion seems to be that it's probably best not to rely on just this system for phone security but it can't do any harm to turn it on (I have).

Vitor

The major weakness (so far) of Android/Google's 'Find my' is it's optional to enable by the user, unlike Apple where every iPhone is automatically part of the reporting network.

Troytempest

Another question on security......Pixel 8 Pro.  I open the phone with my fingerprint or occasionally it asks for my 6 digit passcode.  Once the phone is open then I have full access to my Gmail with no further security required.

Is it possible to set up additional security (say face recognition) for certain apps such as Gmail.

Thanks

flaneurs_lobster

Troytempest said:

Another question on security......Pixel 8 Pro.  I open the phone with my fingerprint or occasionally it asks for my 6 digit passcode.  Once the phone is open then I have full access to my Gmail with no further security required.

Is it possible to set up additional security (say face recognition) for certain apps such as Gmail.

Thanks

It's a function of the apps. Most (all?) banking apps and others will insist on another layer of security, Gmail, notoriously, does not.

One workaround - there are third-party apps that will add extra security to any other app on your phone - I've no experience of these so can't recommend. 

Was going to suggest accessing your Gmail account via another app like Outlook or Thunderbird that can be secured but I'm not sure that you can remove the Gmail app from Pixel (or indeed any other Android) phones.

Samsung phones (and others but not Pixels) have a secure folder where you can secure apps and other data behind another layer of security.

Last resort, move your email over to pretty much any other free service that can be secured (Outlook, Proton etc).