Google has announced at its developer conference I/O that Android phones will receive new tools to prevent unauthorized access and stop criminal behavior by thieves. These new protections will make use of artificial intelligence to automatically detect phone theft and lock it.
The improvements will be implemented both in the upcoming Android 15 operating system and in previous versions, in an effort to combat the increase in phone thefts and protect user privacy. Among the new features is the “Android Theft Detection Lock”, which uses artificial intelligence to detect sudden changes in the phone’s position and lock the screen if theft is suspected.
When thieves steal a phone and don’t know its PIN, they usually open the camera app to prevent it from being remotely locked and disconnect the device from phone networks. To address this, Google has introduced the Offline Device Lock, which locks the screen when the phone is disconnected for a long period of time.
In addition to these measures, Google is adding new data protection features, such as preventing a phone from being set up after a factory reset without the owner’s login information. They are also introducing the option of “private spaces” to store sensitive apps (such as banking apps), requiring a second PIN or biometric data to access them.
New authentication controls have also been added, such as requiring biometric data to make important changes to the device’s settings or Google account. These measures will be implemented gradually; while some will be added in the release of Android 15, others will be available by the end of this year.
According to Suzanne Frey, Vice President of Google, these improvements make stolen devices less attractive to thieves, thus reducing incentives for phone theft. Google has worked to make these features compatible with older versions of the operating system, such as Android 10, ensuring the protection of as many users as possible.
