PC Data Security Blog

What if it’s Your Data on a Lost or Stolen Device?

It’s important to consider the information you’re storing on them. Do your devices include online banking information, bills, receipts, tax returns, personal photos and videos, contact information, online account information, electronic signatures, emails, and…? If this information is intercepted by another person, they can learn a great deal about you. Losing such a device now becomes a much larger undertaking than most people realize. It’s like losing your wallet. What do you do when your wallet is lost or stolen? You cancel your credit cards, get a new id/driving license, perhaps subscribe to a credit reporting/protection agency. Would you do the same thing if you lost one of these electronic devices? You might not - but you should.

These are necessary precautions against identity theft and other damaging uses of your personal information. Your vulnerability may be even greater. Do you store photos or video of your family on these devices? How would it feel if they were in the hands of a complete stranger? A stranger with the morals that justified stealing the device in the first place?
I encourage you to think about all the information you keep on such devices and to ask yourself what would happen if someone got access to that data? What will you do? These are some questions to think about and plan for - preferably before it happens to you.

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