How To Protect Your Data if Your Phone Is Lost or Stolen

If your phone is ever lost or stolen, your data could be at risk of being compromised. One of the main ways your stored data could be in danger is if you have a weak passcode, such as 0000 or 1234. If the person who found or stole your phone could guess your passcode, your data would become compromised.

Read below to learn more about how to protect your phone when it’s lost or stolen and how to keep your phone’s data safe.

How a lost or stolen phone places your data at risk

After losing your phone or having it stolen, you are likely going to panic about your data being compromised. This is a valid concern, especially if your phone has a generic passcode or no passcode at all. Without a strong passcode or any passcode securing your phone, you could be at risk of losing your data and personal information.

Steps to protect your data when your phone is lost or stolen

When your phone is lost or stolen, there are several steps you can take to protect your data:

Track your phone

If you have a GPS tracking feature on your phone, one of the first things you should do is track your phone and mark it as lost.

iPhone users can do this by going to the Find My app on another Apple device. Once you mark your phone as lost by tapping Activate under Mark As Lost, you will receive a confirmation email and be able to display a message on the lost phone’s screen about how to contact you to return the device. Continue to follow the directions on your Apple device’s screen to complete this process of locking your phone remotely.

Android users can track their lost or stolen phone by following a similar process. If you go to the Where’s My Droid app, select your phone from the list of devices. Provide the lock screen PIN for the lost or stolen phone, and you should see a map on your screen with the last known location of your phone. At this point, you can lock your phone with a PIN or password and add a message to your lost phone’s screen.

No matter what kind of phone you have, tracking it and marking it as lost will allow you to lock your phone. This prevents anyone who may have found or stolen your phone from accessing your device and taking any of your personal information or data.

Back up and delete your stored data

Neither iPhone nor Android users can back up their phones remotely once they are lost or stolen. However, if you backed up your phone before it became lost or stolen, there may be ways to delete your stored data.

iPhone users can log in to their iCloud to ensure the old backup of their phone is there. After verifying that iCloud has your data, go to the Find My app and find your missing phone under Devices. Select the missing phone, then tap Erase This Device. By erasing the data currently on your missing phone, you will make sure that whoever found or stole it cannot access your stored data.

Android users can restore data on a new Android device from their Google Account if the original phone has been backed up in the past. Go to the Where’s My Droid app, select the missing phone, go to Settings and tap Factory reset device. Remember, only do this if you have your phone backed up; otherwise, you will be erasing everything from your phone with no way of retrieving it.

Contact your mobile carrier

After your phone has gone missing, you should contact your mobile carrier as soon as you can to protect your data. When you notify your mobile carrier about your lost or stolen phone, you can ask them to deactivate your SIM card so whoever finds your phone cannot pretend to be texting or calling as you or receive any incoming calls or texts. Your mobile carrier could also transfer your data to a new SIM card, but you will likely have to do this step in person so they can verify your identity.

Change the passwords for your most critical accounts

If your phone is lost or stolen, you should immediately change your passwords, especially for your most important accounts. Consider the consequences of someone who found or stole your phone having access to your banking information or email accounts. By changing your passwords immediately, you should be able to preserve your data and privacy to the best of your ability. 

One easy way to change your passwords is to use a password manager like Keeper^®. Keeper Password Manager can automatically generate and store new passwords when you reset your accounts. This ensures that you not only have strong new passwords but also that they are stored in a safe location. 

Remove your phone as MFA

If you are using your lost or stolen phone as a method of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), you need to remove it. Since the purpose of MFA is to give an extra layer of security to your accounts, having your phone receive an important text message or call to verify your identity is dangerous if it is lost or stolen. By removing your phone as MFA, you avoid the risk of someone else gaining access to your accounts by using your lost or stolen phone’s MFA codes.

Proactive measures you should take to protect your phone’s data

If you’re reading this because you want to be prepared just in case your phone ever gets lost or stolen, there are some easy steps you can take proactively to protect your phone’s data.

Secure your phone with a strong passcode

One of the most important things you can do to protect your phone is to use a strong passcode. By making your phone more difficult to access, anyone who finds or steals your phone will not be able to obtain your private information – or at least it will be more difficult. If you need help knowing where to start in creating a strong passcode, follow these tips:

• Do not use sequential numbers, such as 1234
• Refrain from using personal information (birthdate, marriage anniversary, etc.)

For additional help, we recommend using a password generator, which will assist you in creating unique and strong passwords. 

Enable biometric identification and update phone settings

Biometric identification refers to your device recognizing you based on a physical characteristic, including your fingerprint, retina scan or voice pattern. Since biometrics rely on your unique physical or behavioral information, it is crucial to enable biometric identification on your phone if you can to ensure no one besides you can get into your phone. When you enable biometric identification, someone who stole your phone would not be able to log in to your phone or any of your apps if you require a face scan.

Additionally, you should update your phone settings to prevent text messages and notifications from appearing on your phone’s screen. The primary reason you will want to hide text messages and notifications on your lock screen is that anyone who stole your phone could receive an MFA code through SMS without needing your phone’s passcode. If someone can read text messages or notifications on your lock screen, they can use the MFA codes or other personal information to gain access to your accounts.

Regularly back up your phone’s data

Another thing you should do if your phone is lost or stolen is back up your stored data on the cloud and delete the locally stored data from your missing device. If you have your phone backed up before it goes missing, you can delete the stored data from your phone without worrying that it will be lost forever. By regularly backing up your phone, you can store your phone’s data in a safe place and restore it to another phone if you cannot retrieve your lost or stolen phone.

Keep your phone’s software up to date

Always download and install the latest software updates onto your phone. By keeping your phone updated, you ensure that your phone has the latest security patches, bug fixes, new features and more. If your phone ever went missing and did not have the most recent security features, your phone’s data might be at risk of being stolen.

An easy way to keep your phone’s software up to date is by turning on Automatic Updates for iPhone users. This will notify you when the latest update is installed on your phone, without you having to manually do it. Android users can also update their phone’s software automatically in the Software Update section when their phone is connected to Wi-Fi. 

Place a PIN on your phone’s SIM card

Although you cannot place a PIN on your phone’s SIM card once it has already been lost or stolen, you can do this proactively in your phone’s settings. If you have never used a SIM PIN before, enter the default SIM PIN from your carrier, this is typically 1111 for most carriers. Ensure your carrier’s PIN before entering it as you will only get three attempts. If you don’t know this PIN, contact your carrier directly. Guessing the wrong PIN can permanently lock your SIM card. Follow below for the steps depending on your phone type:

For iPhone

1. Open Settings
2. Find Mobile Service, then tap on SIM PIN
3. Toggle SIM PIN on

For Android

1. Open Settings
2. Go to Security, then More Security Settings
3. Under SIM Card Security, toggle Lock SIM Card

Use a password manager

Before anything happens to your phone, you should be using a password manager to protect important data. Not only can a password manager store login credentials, but it can also protect important files and documents, including your passport, banking information and more. If you are already using a password manager before your phone becomes lost or stolen, you should feel more protected knowing that whoever finds your phone cannot access your private data.

Take steps today to secure your phone’s data

Use Keeper Password Manager as a reliable and convenient tool to protect your phone’s data – even if your phone is lost or stolen. By creating a strong passcode for your phone and regularly backing up your phone in the event it is lost or stolen, you will be prepared and can keep your phone’s data safe.

Secure your phone’s data by starting a free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager today.