What I learned when I lost my smartphone

Last week was an exciting week. I got to witness some exciting announcements from Build 2016 . San Francisco always fires you up with its contagious energy. The land of tech, start-ups and fresh ideas is contagious with its drive and passion. However, my trip was short-lived. And by the time I was beginning to get used to the time zone, it was time for me to head back. And that’s when things went downhill. I boarded the flight from San Francisco to Mumbai at 9:40am Pacific Time. That meant waking early. My initial leg was a 16-hour long flight from San Francisco to Abu Dhabi, before I take the last leg to Mumbai. As most people taking a long haul flight, I waited in the queue to board the aircraft. I found my seat, and dreading the thought of sitting idle for 16 long hours, I emptied my pockets, placing my 6.33-inch smartphone in my bag. My wallet with cards and coins in it also had to go. Once I got rid of the two, I felt much lighter. With the bag in the overhead compartment, I slid into the seat and buckled myself up. And relaxed. A couple of movies and broken sleep later, I was woken up before descent over UAE airspace. Partially disoriented, it took me some time to gather myself. Once we touched down the runway and came to a halt, I unbuckled myself, stood up to gather my bag. My hands kept looking out for my smartphone. But it just didn’t seem to be within arm’s reach. Soon reality dawned. It was gone! How, when and who didn’t matter anymore. I was in foreign soil, and my phone was nowhere in sight. There were all sorts of questions in my mind at that point, including ‘wish I had a tiny phone, I could just keep it in my pocket!’ Life’s not always the way we intend I guess! Once I got off the plane, here’s what I did. First on my priority was, of course, find my terminal and gate. And head straight there. Once I was at my gate, I tried signing on to the airport Wi-Fi from my laptop. My smartphone was switched off, so there was no way I could locate it. Irrespective, I opted to erase the device to prevent access of any personal information. You’re as vulnerable as your weakest password Among the initial thoughts to run through my mind was the fact that although the smartphone had a fingerprint scanner, it wasn’t the sole security safeguard. It also had a passcode. And for some reason, I opted for a 4 digit instead of a 6-digit passcode. None of those thoughts mattered anymore, anyway. What’s done was done. There’s no use of a fingerprint scanner if your password bypass is weak! Prevention is better than cure Never take the world for granted. Ever. Lesson learned! But then the lesson will not bring back. I agree, it’s like stating the obvious. But if you’re vulnerable to loss or misplacing things, you’re better off ensuring that your smartphone has access to data. That way, in the event that the device is misplaced, you could remotely wipe it off all data to protect information you don’t really prefer sharing. It happens without prior warning Disaster strikes when you least expect it. So when it does happen, your device needs to have access to a data connection. It could be via a mobile network, or it could be via Wi-Fi. In my case there’s nothing I could have ever done. A few tricks to deal with it would be to use a wake up app, instead. [caption id=“attachment_307566” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  With the smartphone switched off there’s no way to find it.[/caption] Meanwhile, after I landed in Mumbai, I couldn’t get in touch with family and do my mandatory social media updates. A good samaritan who was seated next to me on the flight lended me his smartphone and I could update my near and dear ones. But not everyone might be as lucky. As the old adage goes – a stitch in time saves nine!