Losing a phone is like losing your personal diary. And losing personal messages, close contacts and memorable memories can require serious damage control.
It worsens when these privy details go into the wrong hands. Model and singer Paris Hilton learnt this the hard way. She reportedly lost two phones last week and raised an alarm because when she had lost her phone in 2005 the contacts had made way to the Internet. And some of us may be nodding while reading this because we’ve ourselves been in such a situation.
Aneesa Imam (name changed), a student of Jamia Millia, avers, “Initially I was sad about losing my phone, then I was scared to think that my personal pictures, messages, videos and contacts could go into the wrong hands. Not that there was anything that could get me in trouble at home, but for someone notorious enough to steal can also morph pictures and misuse personal data.”
Seconds Jayesh Datta, copywriter, “You often click pictures with friends or your partner and your phone is the safest place to store them because unlike the home PC your phone is your personal property and under normal circumstances won’t go to anyone else.”
His apprehensions were however sorted by cops tracking his lost phone. “They told me that stealing phones is the handiwork of petty criminals who format phone and memory card and hand it over to resellers. But what if a misplaced phone lands in a notorious person’s hands?” adds Jayesh.
There are softwares that can track smartphones and if need be remotely erase matter. Experts suggest softwares like Norton Mobile Security, that can locate, wipe and lock an Android phone. The average person’s mobile device contains passwords, bank account details and access to social networks. “Have a back up of contacts. The non-smartphone users can screen lock the device, password-protect memory and SIM card,” says Roy Bathla, network engineer.