Update your phone to Android 15 and unlock an ingenious new security feature that will block thieves from accessing your personal data, like banking apps, photographs, contacts, and messaging services.
Using a combination of sensors inside the handset and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Theft Detection Lock will detect when a smartphone has been snatched from the owner’s hand. As soon as this happens, Android 15 will automatically lock the screen — preventing thieves from getting into the device.
Google says the clever anti-theft feature was partially inspired by the increase in snatch-and-grab thefts in London, where pickpockets use a bicycle, moped, or electric scooter to mount the pavement, snatch a smartphone from an unsuspecting person’s hand, and then motor away.
Google has also made improvements to its Remote Lock feature, which makes it easier for users to lock their device in the aftermath of it going missing
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In October last year, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan held a meeting with tech companies – including Google, about phone companies doing more to help combat phone theft after a rise in incidents in the capital over the previous 12 months.
A smartphone is stolen every six minutes in London.
Until now, if someone was using their smartphone when it was snatched, thieves would be able to access almost everything on the device without the need to unlock the phone. Theft Detection Lock will change that.
As soon as the AI-powered tool senses that the handset has been snatched, locks the screen to prevent them from accessing it or any data stored on it. Without a fingerprint scan, facial scan, correct password or PIN, thieves won’t be able to access the contents of the phone. It will also block criminals from resetting the handset to sell on the second-hand market.
Google said its AI has been taught to detect “common motion associated with theft” by reading signals from the device, such as the accelerometer reading the sudden jolt of someone on a bike snatching a phone from a user’s hand and then moving off at high speed, to instantly lock the device.
That new addition is accompanied by a tool called Remote Lock, which enables users to remotely lock their device using just their phone number should it be lost or stolen, which Google said will help users who cannot remember their Google credentials in the moments after a theft, but still need to secure their personal data.
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The tools are rolling out as part of Android 15, the latest version of the Californian company’s operating system, having first been announced earlier this year. At the time, the company said they were being introduced in response to ongoing concerns around rising levels of mobile phone theft, as well as feedback from its own staff and users in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and in London.
“Phone theft is a widespread concern in many countries – 97 phones are robbed or stolen every hour in Brazil, and a phone is reported stolen every six minutes in London alone,” Google announced. “The GSM Association reports millions of devices stolen every year, and the numbers continue to grow.
“With our phones becoming increasingly central to storing sensitive data, like payment information and personal details, losing one can be an unsettling experience. That’s why we developed and thoroughly beta tested a full suite of features designed to protect you and your data at every stage – before, during, and after device theft.”