How to Secure your Smartphone

Do not track

Enabling the ‘Do not track’ option is more useful than most people think. Apps and websites collect your phones information and use it to serve relevant ads. The do not track options stops the websites you visit from collecting your data. Although this feature is not a 100% guaranteed to keep websites from protecting your privacy, it is still a good way to ensure your mobiles data is secure. While we are on this subject there is another issue which needs to be remembered, it is the apps you use. Apps always ask your permission to access your contacts, locations, photos and media files etc.

If you’re not careful what you are giving the apps permission to access your device could become vulnerable to malware or external intrusions. Familiarize yourself with the screenshot below as you will have to play with the various settings on this page which will go a long way to protect your digital data.

Sales and other unwanted calls

Everybody at one point or another has endured unwanted sales calls from businesses they do not want to patronize. cell phone subscriptions and insurance companies are the biggest culprits in this regard. If you wonder how these people find your phone number you need not to wonder anymore. Cell phone numbers and even the names and addresses you provide to any businesses can be bought and sold on the internet. Almost all the businesses you call can collect your phone number along with any other information you provided which they later trade or sell to other businesses to be used for a variety of reasons. This is the main reason users are fed up of taking calls from telemarketers.

The easiest way to protect yourself form this is to not share your phone number with the businesses you contact. Blocking the phone number and refraining to answet spam calls or messages are good options. Also depending on your service provider and the type of phone, prefixes can be attached to the contacts you store which will automatically block your number. Most mobile devices come with an option listed in your contacts which enables or disables your caller ID. You should make full use out of this feature. Caller ID can also be overridden by attaching a code before the number. Again, this will depend on the type of phone and your service provider. This will ensure that the people close to you can identify your number as most people automatically reject calls from withheld numbers.

Find phone

The ‘Find my iPhone’ and ‘Find my device’ apps for Android users can find a stolen device on a map or even initiate remote lock or erase on the phone. This feature should be fully utilised by all smartphone users encase the phone gets lost or stolen.