“In the hierarchy of recommendations that we make,” says Christine Schoellhorn, the project’s product manager, “most users will get a recommendation around encrypting their devices.” (She say most users will also be advised to use two-factor authentication and a password manager.)Įncrypting your smartphone is a simple task. The organization recently launched an online tool called Security Planner, supported by Consumers Union, that gives users customized advice on protecting their personal information. That’s why Citizen Lab, a research group at the University of Toronto, recommends that consumers encrypt their smartphones. Everything you do on a mobile device adds to the potentially sensitive data stored on it-from last-minute Valentine’s Day shopping to video chats to logging in to your email account.Īll that makes the phone something like a safe deposit box of data, one that you can accidentally leave in a restaurant or have stolen from a bag.
