14 DAY TRIAL // With Android 5.1, Google introduces something called the Device Protection feat, which allows lost or stolen devices to remain locked until their owners sign in with their Google account.
But it appears Google is looking to make data on your tablet or smartphone even safer. If you’re like us, at some point in time, you probably forgot to put up a password, pattern, pin code or other security precaution on one of your devices. Then you lost track of it.
This scenario makes it extremely easy for someone to access your data by virtue of just turning on the tablet/smartphone. Well, it appears Google took this possibility into account and devised a solution to help the more forgetful types.
According to a report from the Android Police, Google is seemingly rolling out a new smart lock mode called “On-Body Detection” to select users.
Snoopers won't be allowed to peek inside forgotten phones, tablets anymore
The feature is said to be using the accelerometer inside the phone to figure out where the phone is located in correlation to your body. Is it on your pocket, lock or far away from your physical presence?
In case the feature detects that the phone is not near you, it will lock the device, preventing snoopers from taking a peek at your private data.
The device will remain locked until you locate it and manually unlock it. It will stay in that state while you keep it in your hand or in your pocket, but if you put it down on a table and leave the room, it will lock again.
If you give the unlocked device to a person, it will remain unlocked, because the system is not designed to recognize “you” per-se. It can tell whether someone is holding it in his/her hand or when it is resting inside a pocket.
The tipster who revealed the information regarding this new feat used a Nexus 4 running Android 5.0.1, so “On-Body Detection” doesn’t really seem to be related only to Android 5.1. The user also had the latest of Play Services installed (7.0.97).
Anyway, Google seems to be taking a slow rollout approach to the new feature, so don’t fret if you’re a Nexus owner and you’re not seeing it yet.
