I have a friend in the UK who used to lose his phone every six months. Almost to the day. Back then, and through this period, losing his phone would be a hassle, but he paid extra for insurance and Orange we're quick to block it, and issue a new phone and SIM. He'd lose his numbers, the privacy of his messages. But, otherwise, no big deal.
Now, though, in 2009? Look out.
Another friend of mine here in Australia recently left his phone in the back of a taxi. We're blaming tequila, but tequila doesn't really care.
The thing is, losing a phone these days, especially an iPhone and especially, especially an iPhone without the passcode lock enabled, is bad, bad news.
With a lost and open iPhone you can lose:
- eBay login
- Skype login
- Emails and email log ins
- Phone books and numbers
- Pictures (replaceable, but...)
- Messages
- Music (replaceable)
- Applications (replaceable)
And, perhaps worst of all, your top score on Flight Control (107).
The best that your phone service provider can do in this instance is to block the SIM and disable the phone with its IMEI number so it becomes useless as an actual phone (although the IMEI can be reprogrammed).
But, that is a lot of personal information to lose and I, for one, wouldn't want to lose it.
So, the moral of this story? There are two:
- Always use a passcode lock on your iPhone (or other smartphone) and make use of the iPhone's "Erase" function if the passcode is entered wrongly 10 times (see pics below on where to find this).
It might be a pain to unlock it each time, but that's nothing to losing all your data. Seriously. - Ensure you insure your phone. $10 a month is nothing compared to $600 to break your contract. Insuring it may also cover you for any damage the thieves (or lucky finders) do to your various accounts.
Don't put yourself through the hassle my friend has put himself through.
