Phone Panic

How safe are you about your personal information on your phone? I never let my phone out of my sight, unless one of the kids are playing a game on it or listening to music. Other than that, it's in my pocket or my purse. But accidents happen. You're busy with the kids, you can get easily distracted. Or maybe the pocket in the pants you're wearing are shallow and you're in the mall trying on new clothes. It accidentally slips out of your pants pocket and you don't realize that it's gone until you need it. You feel naked.

Your heart drops into your stomach and you have that empty pit feeling. Where is my phone?! Oh my gosh. I can't even call anyone to help me find it. You're not even thinking about the ramifications of losing it. Your first thought might be that you're going to have to replace it. You think about all the photos you took on it and that they're gone. GONE!

The bad part of it all hasn't hit you ...yet. Is your phone secure? Is it protected?

I really never put much thought into it until I heard on the Today Show about a study that Symantec Corp recently performed and released the results of their study. They fake lost 50 Smart Phones in five major cities in the US and Canada with tracking devices on them and to up the ante they loaded the phones with software that would entice some one to snoop, like "Passwords or HR Files". The news is not shocking, but an eye opener for me and maybe many others.

The worst part, even if your phone gets returned to you, more than likely the person who found it has already attempted to access your personal banking information, looked at your emails and photos. That's pretty creepy to me. "Some 43 percent of finders clicked on an app labeled "online banking." And 53 percent clicked on a filed named "HR salaries." A file named "saved passwords" was opened by 57 percent of finders. Social networking tools and personal e-mail were checked by 60 percent. And a folder labeled "private photos" tempted 72 percent. Collectively, 89 percent of finders clicked on something they probably shouldn't have."- Symantec Corp.

I decided this morning that locking my phone was going to be the best option to keep out anyone from accessing my personal info. I don't care if it keeps me from getting my phone back. A lost phone can be replaced, but if some one gets into your finances, or even worse steals your identity. The process of rectifying that problem can take months if not years.

So there will be an obvious inconvenience when the kids want to use my phone. But it's all good. Some sacrifices have to be made when protecting your private information. You never know if it could happen to you.

Symantec Corp did not contact me to do this post for them. This post is my own and original content and my opinions are all my own.