As more and more smartphone users are falling victim to scams and hacking attempts, it’s important to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Although protecting your personal info and photos on your phone may sound like a hassle, it’s easier than it sounds. So if you want to stay safe from scams and keep your phone’s personal information safe, you’ll definitely want to try one or more of these “best practices” for how to protect your personal phone data:

1. Password protect your phone 

Probably the easiest way how to protect your personal phone data is to activate a password-protected lock screen. This is an especially smart move if you use your mobile phone for business. A four-digit PIN is easy to remember and type, though a longer 8-digit code is far more secure. To avoid the irritation of having to enter your PIN repeatedly, you can set your phone to auto-lock after a brief delay of 1 to 5 minutes, depending on your preference.  

Still, typing in your password each time you unlock your smartphone can get annoying after a while. But it’s the most crucial first step in preventing any of your personal information from being lost or viewed and exploited, especially if you misplace your phone. If your unlocked smartphone is lost but it’s registered with your company, your IT manager or other administrator can remotely lock your phone or wipe its memory. Many IT apps now can do this, such as iCloud for iPhone and the Android Device Manager. 

2. Be careful when choosing apps

Even though that new app may look incredible, with so many obscure third-party providers out there, it’s often difficult to tell how secure and private it could be. Thus, it’s ideal to go through a trusted application store like iTunes, Android Market, or even Amazon and check the app’s reviews thoroughly before downloading it and entering your personal information.  

Be especially careful of financial apps. With these, the best financial apps shouldn’t expect you to enter your bank account information to access your account continuously. 

Another good way to distinguish if an app can be trusted is how easily it can be installed. It’s challenging to install unapproved apps on an iPhone or Windows Phone, and all the apps are inspected and approved before opening up for download in their respective app stores. That makes those mobile platforms safer than Android.

That said, there are a couple of pitfalls to avoid. For instance, jailbreaking your iPhone does allow you to install unapproved apps. Still, on the other hand, it’s the quickest method to open up your smartphone to severe security risks.  

3. Back up your data regularly 

Criminals and malicious software aren’t the only dangers to your personal information. Just losing your smartphone can be grievous on the off chance that you haven’t backed up the information that’s stored on your device.  

There are a lot of secure methods to keep your information backed up to the cloud. Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox,  Box, and SkyDrive are very reliable mobile apps that allow you to automate the process of syncing your personal information to the cloud. This enables you to access your information from any device connected to the internet, including your smartphone or tablet. They likewise incorporate crucial security features, like data encryption, password-protected file sharing, and two-step verification.  

Backing up your information regularly also includes making sure that your smartphone’s software stays updated. Software updates frequently patch security and protection holes that users have found as they’ve tried the product out in reality. Keeping up with the latest software for your smartphone will mean you’ll have the best and most recent solutions.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to wait a week, or two, before downloading and installing the latest software updates to check whether there are any issues with rollouts. Your smartphone should automatically update its software if you have set it to do so.

4. Check app permissions & avoid strange requests

Before you download Android apps, you will first ask to approve a considerably long list of permissions. Rather than bypassing it in a rush to install the app, check the whole list for anything that looks suspicious. If you notice something that doesn’t appear to bode well, such as a calculator app that wants permission to access your email contacts, don’t install that app.

Also, it’s best not to give apps access to your current locations, address book, and any other personal information except if it’s essential. Do not trust any apps that make strange requests, as you could be risking your personal information.

Generally, Apple’s review process guarantees that apps that make ridiculous requests don’t make it into its App Store. Privacy-conscious users might still want to check under Location Services in the Settings menu to guarantee that apps aren’t tracking your location without their knowledge.

Finally, you probably already know that you should avoid clicking on any suspicious links sent by apps on your phone. But people are three times more likely to click on suspicious links when using their smartphones than other devices — so even if you have installed a new app from a third party, be wary of clicking on any such links.

A good habit to practice is before clicking any link, look at the link’s URL, particularly if the message with the link is asking for your data. Most banks and other financial apps have detailed lists of what they will never ask their users for, so you should familiarize yourself with that list so you don’t fall victim to scammers.

5. Avoid joining open Wi-Fi networks  

Seeing as smartphones operate like mini PCs, avoid joining unknown open Wi-Fi networks like you would on your PC. As you type or use your device while it’s connected to unknown Wi-Fi networks, malicious hotspots can send your bank details and passwords without you even realizing it. 

When the hackers get smart,we get smarter! We hope this list of important ways on how to protect your personal phone data has been helpful.

In related news, a spring 2021 survey revealed that more than half of U.S. consumers (58%) said they either do not know or do not feel secure when it comes to their mobile security – and only about 1 in 3 (36%) have a clear understanding of the information stored in their mobile devices. 

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