TYLER (KYTX) - $30 billion worth of smart phones were lost in 2011, according to a study by software security company Symantec.
With all the personal information we keep on our phones, lost phones can easily lead to identity theft.
How much personal information do you keep on your smart phone? if you're like Jana Brown, everything's on there!
"I have my whole life on this phone," Brown says. "I have my email, my banking, my Facebook, my school, everything!"
It wasn't until she lost her phone that she became worried about what personal information a stranger could find, with a few taps.
"I've had three new ones because I lost my phone!"
Mechele Mills with the Better Business Bureau in Tyler says a lost cell phone is one of the easiest ways for criminals to steal your identity.
However, there is something you can do to keep track of your phone and keep your identity safe. There's an application on both the iPhone and the Android. The Apple version is called "Find My iPhone" and for the Android it's called "Where's My Droid."
Those apps track where your phone is when it's lost, and allows corporate administrators to temporarily reset passwords and wipe data.
Mills also says to be careful where you open your accounts.
"Don't access your accounts that require passwords when you're on a wifi network. If you're on a wireless network at home where it's private that's fine, but if you're in the public and you're on a wifi network you don't want to access those accounts that require a password," Mills says.
She also says passwords are key.
"You want to lock your phone with a password so if you happen to leave it somewhere, unless they know your password they can't get into your phone," she says.
Brown says, "I have passcodes on everything that I open."
It's not just the way you log in that's important. You need to log back out once you're done.
"I'm logging out so nobody can get into my Facebook," Brown shows us.
If she loses her phone again, she'll know her information is safe.
The Symantec study shows that only about half of lost phones are returned. It also shows that nearly all who found lost phones tried to access the information on the phone.
Here's a link to Symantec's lost phone study:
http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/about/presskits/b-symantec-smartphone-honey-stick-project.en-us.pdf?om_ext_cid=biz_socmed_twitter_facebook_marketwire_linkedin_2012Mar_worldwide_honeystick
