With more Indians accessing internet via mobile devices than desktops, internet safety on mobile devices while surfing on the web has become an important aspect to consider for individuals and families. Here’s top five tips/tools from Google India to keep your smartphones and tablets secure:
1. Lock your device: All Android devices can be locked to prevent access by children and unauthorised users. Just use a PIN, password, pattern or even your face (through facial recognition) to unlock your device. How? In your phone settings, scroll down to ?Personal? then tap on ?Security? followed by ?Screen Lock?
2. Accessing safe content: Just like on your computer, you can filter out mature content by enabling SafeSearch in Google Search and YouTube on your mobile. While no filter is 100% perfect, turning on this feature helps hide inappropriate content from search, such as in videos, playlists, shows and films. How? In Chrome, scroll down to ?Settings? at the bottom of the Google Search page, then select ?Search settings?. In YouTube, select ?Settings? followed by ?Search? and then ?SafeSearch filtering?. When you?re in the Google Search app, go to ?Search settings? at the bottom of the page, then select ?Accounts & Privacy? to turn on the filter.
3. Create profiles for all your family members: If you?re on a tablet with Android 4.3 or higher, you can create restricted profiles that limit the access that other users have to features and content on your tablet. This means you can share your device without sharing all your content. How? In your device settings, select ?Users & Profiles?, then click ?Add? and select ?Restricted Profile?. Once you?ve done that, you?ll need to choose the apps you want to add to the account.
4. Filter apps available to your family: Google Play filters apps based on different maturity ratings and gives you control over the types of apps that can be downloaded to your device. All you need to do is select the rating that is right for your family. How? In the Play Store settings, select ?User Controls?, then tap on ?Content filtering?
5. Locate a missing device: Using Android Device Manager, you can locate your handheld device on a map, delete your data remotely, or call your phone to make it easier to find. How? Install and open the Android Device Manager app, choose the right device and then select on one of the options: ?Ring?, ?Lock? or ?Erase?.
