Woman Finds Lost iPhone, Takes Her Minutes To Discover Everything About Its Owner

Terrifying.

Most of us like to believe that we prioritise our digital privacy, using (what feels like) thousands of different passwords and fingerprint recognition to lock it away behind a screen.

But our valuable personal information might not be as safe as we would hope.

Wachiwit via Getty Images

This is after one woman shared a worrying warning on Twitter, after finding a lost iPhone left behind in a public toilet.

The tech-safety vigilante, who goes by the name of Afronomics, explained that within minutes of finding the abandoned device she had learned the owner’s name, address, recently called contacts and where her car was parked.

And that is without knowing the pin.

Using Siri to ask questions, she was able to get to the information without ever getting past the locked screen.

I asked siri what's my name. it pulled up her info. cool. I asked siri who do I call most. pulled up her recent calls. cool.

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

I was about to call the most recent person but they called me first. I answer. the girl comes right back to get her phone. hooray. all good.

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

but I realized when I pulled up her notifs & asked siri questions. I found her first & last name, where she lives, &where her car's parked.

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

it was that easy. all from a locked phone. I could've got directions to her car and her home. that shit scared me.

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

idk if it's just me, but it's scary to know that anyone can find this info about me all from me leaving my phone in the bathroom for 5mins

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

I told the girl. she was shook. then I changed her settings for her so that couldn't happen.

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

Now she is advising other people to do the same and protect themselves against security threats by changing their settings.

go to settings, touch id & passcode, and under "allow access when locked" turn off siri, today's view, and notification's view.

— uninterested hō (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017

What a hero.

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