How to Protect Sensitive Data on Smartphones: iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7

a study Consumer Reports It found that 4 out of 5 smartphone users did not protect their sensitive data, even with something as simple as a password or PIN to prevent unwanted people from seeing that data. To help you prevent access to this information if your phone falls into the hands of snoopers, we will show you how to lock your phone no matter iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Windows Phone 7.

In the Consumer Reports State of the Internet Survey, respondents asked whether they locked their smartphones to protect things like contact lists, online banking site information, and even phone-accessed medical records. While it’s a very simple thing to do with all four of the major smartphone platforms, only 20% said they did.

We will show you how to lock the four main platforms so that when you turn on that phone a password, pattern or PIN will be required to unlock it and access the phone and its data. This may be annoying for you, but unless you are really persistent it will deter prying eyes from getting your data. In such cases, it is unlikely that any level of security will keep them away.

how to lock iPhone

To lock an iPhone that requires a four-digit pin to gain access, do the following:

1. Go to Settings, General and Password Lock
2. Tap Open Password
3. It will ask for a four-digit password – enter a password you can remember but not obvious such as a single digit, for example 3333 is a bad choice
4. Re-enter the same password to confirm

You are now protected. Note that this is only a nuisance for thieves. Make sure you have the Find My iPhone service set up so you can wipe the phone remotely if it is lost.

For extra security, turn off “Simple Password” on the Password Lock screen so you can use a more complex password. Note that you will need to enter this passcode every time you wake up your iPhone from sleep mode.

Here is a short video on how to do this. It is based on older versions of iOS, but still applies to v.4 and above.

https://youtu.be/HndtXJLCcN0

How to Lock Android Phones

From the Android home screen, do the following:

1. Tap the menu button and select Settings
2. Tap Location & security
3. Under Screen unlock settings, select Set up screen lock
4. Choose from four options and follow the onscreen instructions to set your password, PIN or pattern.

Of the four options, the password is the most secure, followed by a PIN. The pattern is the most convenient, but the least secure. After a while, the pattern can be deciphered by anyone who gets their hands on your phone. Thanks to oily hands, the pattern will be visible. Only a really good screen cleaning once a day will prevent people from seeing the pattern.

Below is a video on how to lock the phone using the pattern method:

How to Lock Blackberry Smartphone

For Blackberry, do the following from the device’s home screen ( Blackberry Support):

1. Click on the Options icon
2. Choose Security Options
3. Choose General Settings
4. For version 4.0.2 or earlier, select Options and then Security, or for versions 4.6 or later, select Options and Password
5. Change the password option to Enabled
6. View the menu and select Save
7. Type the password and press enter
8. Retype the password to confirm and press enter again

Here is a video on how to set password on blackberry:

How to Lock Windows Phone 7

On a Windows Phone 7 device, do the following ( Microsoft):

1. Select Start and swipe left to go to Application list
2. Choose settings
3. Lock and choose wallpaper and then…
4. … turn on Password and enter a new password
5. Re-enter the password to confirm
6. Tap done to save
7. You may also want to set the Screen timeout while you are here.

Here is how to set password on Windows Phone 7 device: