Remotely wipe the contents of your lost device

If someone else has you device and it is not protected by a good password or PIN, whoever now has it will have access your contacts, text messages, stored documents and everything else that you may have in it. If password protected, this may not be too difficult to break.

 

The best way to ensure the confidentiality of all the data in a mobile device is to remotely wipe it.

 

Why is this an issue?

Simply because your data is yours and nobody else’s business – the belief that “I have nothing to hide” is no excuse to allow others access to your data, particularly if it includes details of your bank accounts, friends’ telephone numbers and personal messages, as you lose control of how they may be misused or abused.

 

What you should do about it

Many devices, particularly smartphones may include the facility for remote wiping and there are many software products and Apps that perform this function. Several of them are included in the software that allows a missing device to be tracked.

 

A word of caution: if the data in the missing device has not been backed up, remote wiping will leave you without any trace of this data – would you like to lose the only copy of your baby’s first words or steps?

 

Search engine query “remote wiping of (product name and model)”.