Google is preparing to borrow a feature from Apple’s Stolen Device Protection
Android will make it harder for thieves to steal your data even if they know your phone's lock screen PIN.
JoriPress
- Google is preparing to implement an Identity Check feature that forces you to use your biometrics to unlock apps.
- However, biometrics will only be mandatory if the device is outside of a trusted location.
- This is so thieves who know your phone’s lock screen PIN can’t unlock your apps to steal your data.
Your phone’s lock screen is the main thing keeping all your apps and data from prying eyes. But what happens if a thief peeks over your shoulder, sees what your lock screen PIN is, and snatches your phone from your hands? Suddenly, many of your apps and personal data are vulnerable, even if they’re protected by the additional layer of security that is Android’s biometric prompt. This is because many apps that use Android’s biometric prompt let you enter the device’s lock screen credentials as a fallback mechanism. Fortunately, while I was digging through the Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 release that Google pushed out the other day, I found evidence that the company is working on a solution to this problem — and it comes right out of the Apple Stolen Device Protection playbook.
In the Settings app, I came across an interesting new string named mandatory_biometrics_prompt_description. It reads, “Identity Check is on.” The Settings app has code to show this “Identity Check is on” string when it invokes Android’s biometric prompt dialog. However, the Settings app doesn’t show this string when it invokes a biometric prompt, which it does when you try to change the USB mode or screen timeout in Android 15.
