Got secrets? Eighty-seven percent of smartphone users responded in the affirmative to a survey commissioned by Dallas apps developer NQ Mobile which bluntly asked them if they had content on their devices they would prefer others not see.
Nearly one-fourth indicated that others may have secretly accessed content on their smartphones. Potential snoops included thieves, friends, employees and significant others, said NQ Mobile in a statement.
“Whether being passed around to share photos from a recent vacation, being used to entertain children or being left untended on a table in a business meeting, it's clear our smartphones are finding their way into more and more people's hands,” said Gavin Kim, chief product officer at NQ Mobile. “Surprisingly, smartphones provide no simple way to curate the content we feel comfortable others seeing and storing away the content we'd rather keep private. “
The occasion for these announcements is NQ Mobile's release of an Android App – NQ Mobile Vault – free at the Google Play store.
The app creates an encrypted and password-protected space on a phone where users can store content they want to keep away from prying eyes. This could include SMS messages, call logs, videos, even financial institution passwords.
Whether this app is the right or best solution is of course a choice for each consumer. What is evident, suggested the experts, is that there is increasing consumer awareness of the sensitive nature of content on their smartphones and a determination to attempt to keep that content private.
Experts also point out that a starting point for securing smartphone content is to PIN protect the device, which is accomplished under the SETTINGS tab. Setting up a PIN takes seconds but, say security experts, this simple step keeps at least casual snoops at bay by locking down the whole device.
Meantime, Dropbox – an app available on Android and iPhone devices – also provides free, encrypted storage of content a user may want to keep secret.
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