SIGforum
Phone Locking - Do You Lock Yours?
June 08, 2026, 09:01 AM
billpoczPhone Locking - Do You Lock Yours?
Phone locking fascinates me... <BR><BR>I do not lock mine, but it seems as if everyone does!Do you lock your phone (and use a code or Face ID), or do you just raw dog life with out locking it?I routinely lock my phone alwaysI sometimes lock my phoneI do not lock my phone ever
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--- Sig 365, 365XL, 245, P6
* June 08, 2026, 09:04 AM
Pipe SmokerNot only yes, but hell yes.
With iPhone face ID lock/unlock is virtually automatic.
It occasionally requires entering the lock code manually to prevent me from forgetting it.
Serious about crackers. June 08, 2026, 09:08 AM
hberttmankYes, just like my doors, I lock them behind me no mater which side I am on.
"But, as luck would have it, he stood up. He caught that chunk of lead." Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock
"If there's one thing this last week has taught me, it's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it." Clarence Worley June 08, 2026, 09:09 AM
HRKAbsolutely, you get your phone stolen and most of the time it's resold to black market people who try and hack into it to steal any and all information about you, credit cards, phone numbers, addresses, messages that might have personal information that is sellable.
If it's unlocked they can brick the data, reset the phone to factory specs and then sell it to someone.
June 08, 2026, 09:17 AM
dsietsI never really thought about it as my phone locks itself when inactive.
And when I pick it up, a light touch w/ my finger print on the power button/print scanner (right about where my finger rests while holding it) unlocks it w/ minimal effort.
June 08, 2026, 09:26 AM
Georgeairquote:
Not only yes, but hell yes.
Unless your phone is being use only as a dumb phone, crazy not to.
Contacts, and apps with logins saved, etc. are all at risk. Oh you have email there as well - that's the golden key for thieves to overtake your entire financial and person world before you even know it.
I work for someone, incredibly smart, who does not. I've yet to have anyone give me a logical argument for why you wouldn't in today's world and the lack of friction it creates for the proper owner to use it.
You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02
June 08, 2026, 09:38 AM
oddballNo, because I own a dumb phone, just voice calls and texts. No data or WiFi, no apps. I have no documents in it, some photos of grocery items, that's it.
"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
June 08, 2026, 09:38 AM
12131The question should really be, why in the world would you not lock your phone? Do you not lock your car? Your house?
Q
June 08, 2026, 09:41 AM
sigfreundIn one thriller I read, the “operators” cut off a finger of the terrorist they just killed so they could unlock the phone they recovered from the body. I don’t know how they knew which finger to take, perhaps everyone uses the same one, but I found the idea interesting. It didn’t affect what I do, though, because I use a multi-digit code to unlock mine—no fingerprint or face ID—and I lock it every time I’m finished using it.
(Using the code is of course slower. It takes me probably two seconds or so to enter the numbers—practically forever, so I can see how most people wouldn’t want to put up with such inconvenience.

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► 6.0/94.0
“I can’t give you brains, but I can give you a diploma.”
— The Wizard of Oz June 08, 2026, 09:50 AM
tatortoddBoth my personal phone and work phone automatically lock. My work phone, I have zero choice on whether or not the phone locks as IT has removed that option.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. June 08, 2026, 09:55 AM
egregoreI - or someone finding me incapacitated - can swipe with my finger to dial 911 or those I've designated emergency contacts, but other than that, PIN code. This comes after leaving a previous phone unlocked and "butt-dialing" people.
June 08, 2026, 10:01 AM
YooperSigsFace ID works for me!
End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
June 08, 2026, 10:02 AM
PHPaulquote:
Originally posted by 12131:
The question should really be, why in the world would you not lock your phone? Do you not lock your car? Your house?
I do not use my phone for banking, purchases or ANY financial stuff. Calls, texting and pictures only. Very rarely, some surfing but NOT buying things on-line. Ever.
So no, it's a pain in the ass to have to enter the unlock code just because I want to read/send a text.
If my phone got stolen/lost, I'd be pissed about the pictures, but otherwise, they'd get nothing but an old phone.
Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
June 08, 2026, 10:05 AM
tatortoddquote:
Originally posted by egregore:
I - or someone finding me incapacitated - can swipe with my finger to dial 911 or those I've designated emergency contacts, but other than that, PIN code. This comes after leaving a previous phone unlocked and "butt-dialing" people.
iPhones and I believe Androids also have a medical ID feature. Paramedics know how to enable it, and it contains helpful information like prescriptions, allergies, blood type, etc.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. June 08, 2026, 10:18 AM
pace40My flip phone makes calls and receives calls, that's it. No texts, no internet, nothing else. Also, it's a burner. There is no account associated with it.
Webster's definition: Telephone; "a device by which sound (such as speech) is converted into electrical impulses and transmitted (as by wire or radio waves) to one or more specific receivers"
That's what I use it for. No, I don't lock it. Don't even know if it has that feature.
____________
Pace
June 08, 2026, 10:20 AM
Fly-SigYup. Pin code only, no face ID, no fingerprint.
June 08, 2026, 10:21 AM
MinnowYes, lock with only allow unlock with a passcode. Facial and biometric locks are not legally protected in the same way as a passcode.
"Prepared in mind and resources" June 08, 2026, 10:21 AM
slosigI voted sometimes, because my phone is set to auto lock after 30 seconds on inactivity. After every update I go through the extra button pushes to tell Apple I’m not using Face ID or Touch ID. Multi digit code to unlock, thank you.
June 08, 2026, 10:24 AM
sigfreundquote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
they'd get nothing but an old phone.
One of the (few) advantages to being old in this day and age is that not all of us were ever convinced to store our most important life information on a device capable of being carried in a pants pocket and can be lost, destroyed, or stolen in an instant’s mischance. I understand why people do it, but understanding isn’t agreeing that it’s a good idea.
► 6.0/94.0
“I can’t give you brains, but I can give you a diploma.”
— The Wizard of Oz June 08, 2026, 10:27 AM
SigSauerP226I always lock my phone, but also have a couple emergency contacts that can be accessed without unlocking the phone. This is also very helpful if you lose your phone. I’ve returned many phones this way. We also get the situations where someone sets their phone on their car that falls off into the road, activating the iPhone Crash Notification. That sends an alert to Police, Fire, and ambulance, who all respond code 3 to find a phone in the road. When we find it, we return it much faster with emergency contacts, but I also will collect the phone and charge it if I can and keep it with me until the end of shift hoping someone tracks it or calls it so I can return it instead of booking it at the end of shift.
...Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, was just a freight train coming your way...