• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Who uses a secure lockscreen and why?

I worry most about someone stealing my identify or compromising one or more of my financial accounts.

The phone has access to your contacts, past email, browsing history. More important it has access to your current email account and current phone number. Email and phone are often tied to financial and personal accounts as one of several means to verify the identify of someone communicating with them and also to notify accountholders promptly of suspicious activity. If the thief starts trying to break into your accounts, he may be able to reset your email password (based on having your phone) and lock you out. I don’t know the specifics about how they’ll get all the way through but I am sure it can be done because I’ve heard plenty of stories of people having their identities hijacked, so I don’t want to give them those crucial first few points of access through my phone / email.

Now let’s think about the possible outcomes after your phone goes missing, from best to worst:
1 - Best – get your phone back, data intact
2 - Almost as good, get your phone back, with data wiped.
3 – Almost the worst possible – Theif keeps your phone, but data is wiped to prevent identity theft.
4 – Worst possible – Thief keeps your phone and data is not wiped in time to prevent identify theft

Now let’s say your phone goes missing (you don’t know where/how but it’s gone).

If you have no lock on your phone, you darned well better try to wipe it as soon as you can. So best possible outcome is 2. Worst possible outcome is 4 (maybe you didn’t recognize phone was gone for awhile, couldn’t get to a computer before the theif got in and stole the underpinnings of your identity).

If you did have a secure lock on your phone, you are in no rush to wipe the phone remotely because you know your personal data is safe (if thief does that, so be it… he can only get in by resetting, which protects your personal data). So you can track it and report it… who knows maybe a friend found it… your best possible outcome is 1. Your worst possible outcome is 3 because thief has to reset a locked phone to get into it.

So unlocked phone results in outcome 2-4. Locked phone results in outcome 1-3. Both the best AND the worst case scenarios are improved if you have locked your phone. And by the way, there may be people close to you who are not quite as trustworthy as they seem who might install spy apps on your phone while it's laying around unlocked (trust is good but removing the opportunity / temptation is better). So locking your phone is prudent for many reasons in my view. But it depends I guess on how much vulnerabity you think lies in your phone vs how much inconvenience it costs you. I use a tasker profile to adjust the lock time depending on the location. I also have a quick easy manual lock that I use when I know I'm putting my phone down/away for awhile.
 
Last edited:
I keep all of my personal information in Evernote and that is password protected.
contacts, yeah, would be a bummer for those to start getting spam.

I keep my neckstrap pretty tight if out and about.
 
@electeicpete excellent points made there mate and you've just reminded me to app lock my Gmail.
My fear is that the average idiot where I live thinks a locked phone is useless and will throw it in a bin.
They're also too stupid to factory reset a phone so my tracking apps will work. (and we once tracked down a stolen friends phone to a house, got it back and dealt out some justice and it was SO satisfying)
So I'll just stick to locking my vulnerable apps for now I thunk
 
I agree with you all, mostly with the one who said "my front pocket is difficult to pick" because I have trouble removing the phone when I want to use it, often it takes so long I miss the call. When I finally lose it and the thief tries to rob me, they will be so disappointed to learn that I am broke that they might even put money into my account! The device is covered by insurance and the only information I will "lose" is my contacts list which is backed up to the desktop.
I now have IFTTT relaying all my texts and other activity to a cloud and all the photos are automatically backed "up" as soon as they are shot. Theft of the phone would be inconvenient (though it is very unlikely): what would really piss me off would be the thief "winning" because I hate thieves.
I use a slide without any security, I am lazy and like so many of you, I figure they'll be too stupid to use it or will know how to circumvent the lock. However you have spurred me to consider the automatic tracking options so I can find them and beat the stealing habit out of them: thanks for that.
 
I use a fingerprint lock, also I have all of my important apps locked with a 4 digit pass code. I know it's a little much but if I let somebody use my phone then leave the room, I won't have to worry about them getting into my apps or phone's settings and changing my settings or posting stupid stuff.
 
Yeah "fraping" (is that a US thing too, Facebook raping?)
I now use a 4digit app lock too. Use it on settings, Gmail, Amazon shopper, Play store, Facebook (but not g+ strangely, probably because I have no family on there) :thumbsupdroid:
Not sure I'd use a fingerprint lock for my previous reasons
 
It's good in the fact that they're trying to be careful, but entering a long password a lot is a pain. Luckily I can set how long it takes for the lock to activate to 15 minutes so frequent usage doesn't get ridiculously tedious.
 
arinium said:
I use a lock screen with phones that tend to unlock themselves in my pocket. Otherwise the phone may accidentally open up some apps, call to someone, etc.
Click to expand...
Yeah luckily (and I think all phones should do this) when the proximity sensor (to turn the screen off when you put the phone to your head during a call to prevent button presses) is covered on my phone, the screen just won't turn on so no chance of it turning on in my pocket.
Works perfectly and the phone has double-tap to wake on the screen, still disabled by the prox' sensor :thumbsupdroid:
 
I've been using swipe for over a year.
Last week I decided why bother?
I just told Nova Launcher to Lock the Screens so nothing can change.

It's almost like I got a brand new phone.
Just touch the home screen and use it now....

maybe I need to learn how to "Text and Drive" since it opens so easy now :rolleyes:
 
I use "None" and a Tasker profile ...

Profile: tlaProximity
State: Proximity Sensor
State: Not Call [ Type:Any Number:* ]
Enter: tlaProximityEnter
A1: System Lock

If proximity sensor is covered when not on a phone call it turns the screen off.
If proximity sensor is not covered when on a phone e call it turns the screen on.
If proximity sensor is covered when on a phone call it turns the screen off.

So during phone call ... phone next to face ... screen is off ... hold phone to use dial pad ... screen comes back on.
If not on a phone call ... phone next to face ... screen is off ... need to hit poser button to turn it on when proximity sensor is no longer covered.

... Thom
 
^excellent.
I think the app Gravity Screen does similar but I haven't used it in a long time. Can't remember if it relies on the prox sensor or just the accelerometer :thumbsupdroid:
 
We have pins on all phones because we have kids, we learned the hard way what happens when you leave an electronic device with critical and personal information unsecured, a two year old will come along and wipe your computer clean, uninstall everything, delete everything, etc and than ask for juice
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom