How do you find it?
Well, you could use Android Device Manager to
locate it, reset its screen lock PIN and/or erase all the
data, but that’s a bit of a hunt-menu-select-select
scramble unto itself.
Now, Google’s making it as simple as plugging a
search term into its omnivorous search box.
In fact, Google’s new “Find My Phone” is just that: a
search term that we can now plug into Google
search.
All you have to do is make sure you’ve got the most
recent version of the Google app installed on the
device, Google said in a blog posting:
We've all been there — you’ve searched under
your car seat, tossed around the sofa cushions
and you still can’t find your phone. If you know
where your computer is, you can now ask Google
to find your Android phone from your desktop. If
the pesky phone is hiding nearby, Google can ring
it for you — or you can see it on the map if you,
say, forgot it at the bar. Just make sure you’ve got
the latest version of the Google app installed on
your device!
After you plug in the “Find My Phone” search term,
Google Maps comes up, and Google asks for
permission to use your location data.
A drop-down menu lets you select which device
you’re trying to find, then Google communicates with
the phone, eventually presenting a map view of its
location that the company says is accurate to 76 feet
(at least, that’s the accuracy it gave me for mine):
Then, Google gives you the option of making the
phone ring its head off, non-stop, at full volume, for 5
minutes, or until you press the power button.
It’s always a relief to find your phone’s been hiding
under a cushion.
But what if your phone instead winds up in the
pocket of a thief? Or what if an innocent person picks
it up where you left it at the beach or the beer parlour?
When it’s in the hands of others, a phone can be the
key that unlocks your privacy, given all the personal
data it contains, including contacts, naked selfies,
Facebook posts, online banking,e.t.c
To battle phone-related crime, US law enforcers and
politicians have pushed for a mandatory kill switch –
i.e., remote-control technology that bricks a phone
after it’s stolen, thereby ruining its resale value.
Short of a kill switch, there are ways to locate, lock
and/or erase a wireless gadget if it gets lost or stolen,
Google Device Manager being one.
The telecom industry lobbying group CTIA has
listings for security remote-command apps for
Android, Blackberry, iOS (Apple), Symbian and
Windows, as well as instructions on locking a phone
BEFORE it’s stolen.
Apple, for its part, introduced an activation lock in its
iOS 7 mobile operating system.
Apple previously had a Find My iPhone feature, but
the activation lock took it a step further by not only
tracking the lost phone but also enabling users to
remotely wipe it.
This approach isn’t as drastic as bricking it forever
and ever.
That’s a good thing, given that a locked iPhone can
still display messages if the true owner lucks out and
his or her device falls into the hands of a reputable
person.
Source:https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/04/17/lost-your-android-now-you-can-google-it/#

Ok

Nigerians can always outsmart them... After area boys get hold of ya phone, the next thing is to uninstall your google sh!t.

But a good innovation though

that nice. Google at d top #teamgoogle

Yes ooh