Imagine sitting on a park bench looking at your phone while minding your own business. boom. Someone takes your device and runs away with it. Android and iOS already have some safety measures in place, but what happens to those precious few seconds when your handset is unlocked? Will I be able to get a way to wipe data remotely?
Thieves can access a lot of information in a short amount of time. Every moment counts. Google on Wednesday announced an upcoming feature for Android called Theft Detection Lock designed to protect against this growing threat at the Google I/O 2024 developer conference. Your device will automatically lock when the AI-powered feature is triggered.
Google says, “When common behaviors associated with theft are detected, your phone's screen will immediately lock, preventing thieves from easily accessing your data.” An example of such a trigger is a device that suddenly starts moving rapidly in the opposite direction.
Google is also adding an offline device lock feature designed to protect devices if they are intentionally disconnected from the network. This feature is triggered if your phone repeatedly fails to authenticate, for example.
Future updates will also provide features that will make it more difficult for thieves to remotely factory reset a device. “With this upgrade, thieves cannot force-reset a stolen device and set it up again without knowing the device or Google Account credentials,” Google said in a statement. “This will prevent stolen devices from being sold and reduce the incentive for mobile phone theft.”
If the device is logged in from an unsecured location, biometrics will be required to change sensitive information.
