The end of smartphone theft? Google tests AI-powered feature to deter thieves

JVTech News The end of smartphone theft? Google tests AI-powered feature to deter thieves

Smartphone theft still at the top of the list

In France, a smartphone is stolen every 6 minutes. This is the most frequent theft, along with that of cash. No wonder smartphone manufacturers are doing their part to try to stop this phenomenon.

Of course, it’s difficult to integrate bear traps to physically prevent thieves from grabbing your phone and making off with it, but certain features can soften the eventual demise of your beloved phone. On the Apple side for example, a few options exist, notably a recent setting called Stolen Device Protection, which automatically adds additional layers of security when the iPhone is away from places it knows well like home or work.

However, thanks to AI, Google is trying to more directly counteract snatching, and it starts in Brazil.

Google can detect if a smartphone is stolen

Brazil is the lucky one for testing the future smartphone theft detection feature. “Happy” is a big word, as the country was chosen because of its extremely high rate of smartphone theft: an increase of 16.6% in 2022 to reach one million flights.

== How does it work? =

Thanks to Google’s feature, an Android smartphone is able to use AI to detect smartphone theft. Here is the 3 functions in detail:

• With the smartphone’s accelerometer, it is possible to identify movements typically associated with theft, and thus block the screen.
• In the event of theft, the user can use the device of a trusted person to, via the number of the stolen smartphone, perform a security test to block it.
• Finally, if the Android device is without internet connection for a long time (no specific time announced), the screen locks automatically.

As you have understood, this type of measure will not completely prevent theft, but will first protect the data inside the stolen smartphones. Then, if this functionality is distributed to all recent Android models, this could deter thieves, as their theft is no longer very profitable if the screen is blocked.