Phone thefts now plague cities around the world, and it’s down to phone makers to fix given policing has largely failed to stem the problem. New updates won’t stop a kid on a bike snatching your phone, but will make it harder to unlock your phone and access your data. Just as critically, this also makes it harder for that phone to be resold.
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Apple and Google have enhanced iOS and Android to make theft protection a headline feature set, and the latest news from Google is to be welcomed. If you own an Android device, this is one upgrade you need to enable as soon as you can.
Per Android Authority, Google’s Identity Check “prevents thieves from unlocking sensitive apps even if they know the phone’s passcode. Currently, Identity Check is only available on Pixel and Samsung phones, but it will be available on more devices with the upcoming Android 16 update.”
Pixels have had access to this feature since December, and it’s included in Samsung’s long-delayed One UI 7 upgrade. Now other OEMs can add the same. Protections work best as a deterrent if they’re widely available, changing the game for phone thieves and their victims. The less valuable a stolen device, the less worthwhile the risk in stealing it.
Just as with iPhones, the thinking behind Android’s Identity Check is to partition an enclave of security and device settings that requires additional security to unlock. Theft protections can be triggered by a location — if the phone is away from home, or an incident — the phone detecting that it might have been snatched from its user.
“When Identity Check is enabled, the biometric prompt dialog — which asks the user to scan their finger or face — does not permit using the device’s PIN, password, or pattern as a fallback authentication method. Normally, the biometric prompt dialog allows this fallback, unless the triggering app specifically requests biometric authentication only.”
There have been increasing reports of attackers watching a user unlock their phone with a PIN before stealing it. Here again, this safeguards users against the risk.
There are trade-offs though. “When Identity Check is enabled, the biometric prompt dialog—which asks the user to scan their finger or face—does not permit using the device’s PIN, password, or pattern as a fallback authentication method.”
Android Authority suggests users with devices other than Pixels or Samsungs “check for the Identity Check feature after updating to Android 16.” But it won’t be available for everyone, as it requires a certain level of hardware as well as the OS upgrade.
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Kudos to both Google and Apple for grappling the phone theft epidemic and making new devices harder and less worthwhile to steal. There’s more to be done though. The spate of phone thefts is out of control and shows no signs of slowing. It needs to stop.
