Most smartphone users nowadays keep lots of sensitive personal data on their devices, making them prime targets for theft. Google has been working on features to address this issue, and has now officially launched a new Android security feature for Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices with Android 15 to prevent phone thieves from accessing your digital accounts.
Google’s Identity Check for theft protection: Here’s how it works
Google’s Identity Check feature will activate when your phone is outside the zone you set up in Trusted places. The Android OS will then ask for your biometrics to access things like your Google account settings and information-sensitive pages. This ensures that in the event your phone is stolen, the PIN or password of your device won’t work to access sensitive information unless a user inputs his biometrics.
Moreover, the PIN or password won’t even be displayed. Users can designate one or more trusted locations from the Theft Protection menu in Settings. Google has detailed how the feature integrates with the Theft Protection toolset, and it already includes useful safeguards such as Theft Detection Lock, which locks your device automatically if it detects that someone has snatched it from your hand.
Identity Check was initially launched in beta late last year as part of the December Pixel Drop and is now available to eligible Pixel smartphones running on Android 15. The feature is also coming to Samsung Galaxy devices that will get the One UI 7 update in the coming weeks and Google has confirmed that it will roll out to other Android devices later this year.
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