Free ways to recover your lost phone or laptop
from Kim’s columns, 11/5/2011
It's a familiar feeling deep in the pit of your stomach. You're driving
down the road and realize your smartphone is missing. Or you're in the
airport, and you just realized you left your laptop or iPad behind as
you were rushing to the gate.
First, you think of the expense. But then the larger problem begins to
come into focus. Your phone or laptop is full of information that is
incredibly valuable to you and difficult to replace. And, worse yet,
your lost item could very easily fall into the wrong hands. Then you
become vulnerable to identity theft.
Fortunately, there are free apps and programs that can help in this
situation. With these downloads, your data can remain safe until you are
able – hopefully – to track your device down and have it safely back in
your possession.
Find My iPhone
Thankfully, you can track your iPhone with Apple's Find My iPhone. It is
completely free if you have a new iOS device. To get it for no charge,
you need to own an iPhone 4 or later version, iPad or fourth generation
iPod touch.
With Find My iPhone, you can track your phone using its GPS. Find My
iPhone also allows you to wipe your device remotely. This way, even if
you are unable to find or recover the gadget, you are still able to
delete and protect your sensitive data.
Where's my Droid
Misplacing your phone can be frustrating. Typically, you call your phone
and find it by hearing it ring. So how much more frustrating it is when
you realize that you silenced your ringer.
In that instance, Where's My Droid becomes invaluable. It uses a set of
attention words to activate a silenced ringer. It even turns up the
ringer volume if you had it dialed down. Where's My Droid can also
obtain GPS data for your phone. Simply send the phone a text, and it
responds with its location.
Prey
Owning a laptop is a great convenience. It allows you to work, play
games, watch movies and connect with people where you are. With this
mobility, however, comes danger. The ease of portability can quickly
translate to ease of loss.
Prey is a free program that works to track your laptop should anyone try
to steal it. As soon as the thief turns on the laptop, Prey will try to
broadcast its location. Even if it isn't connected to the Internet, Prey
will attempt to find the nearest open hotspot. To activate it, you
simply send the laptop a message from your phone or another computer.
Prey offers a wide range of other features as well. You can take
screenshots to view what's happening on the screen. You can hide
personal information, such as stored passwords, remotely. You can even
activate the Webcam to get mug shots of the person using your computer.
Lookout
As smartphones become more versatile and powerful, we use them for a
wider variety of tasks. But this also makes them more attractive to
criminals. Attacks on cell phones are becoming increasingly commonplace.
This app can protect your BlackBerry, Android phone or Windows phone
against malware. It can also block attacks via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and text
message. It backs up your important data to an online account. It also
helps you locate your phone if it becomes lost or stolen.
Plan B
Finally, what happens if you lose your phone before you get around to
installing one of these great apps? If your phone is an Android, there
now is a solution.
The very aptly named Plan B is quite a revolutionary app. It's currently
the only app that allows you to remotely install it on your phone after
you've lost it. It accomplishes this via coordination between the
Android Market and your Google account.
After installation, you will immediately receive the phone's coordinates
by email. The app will track your phone, emailing updates if it moves.
Plan B doesn't have the data wiping or other mobile security features of
the preinstalled apps, but if you never installed a security app to
begin with, it's a good second plan of attack.
