Top Tips for keeping your gadgets safe

Whilst we are here to help if you need us, let’s face it no one likes losing, breaking or damaging their gadgets. We’ll do everything we can to get your gadget fixed or a new one back to you ASAP but it’s not nice being without your phone or laptop even if it’s just temporary. The best thing to do is treat your gadget like you do your money.  Most phones for example are worth well over £500 these days and you wouldn’t walk down the street with wads of cash poking out of your back pocket so it’s best not to treat your phone in the same way!

 Below we’ve compiled a list of our top tips to keep your gadget safe:

Mark it with a UV pen. You can pick these up in any stationary shop, up and down the country. Writing in UV pen is not visible to the human eye and won’t cosmetically damage your gadget. However it will help the police recover your item and return it to you should it be stolen.

Register it. Register your valuables on www.immobilise.com particularly if they have a way of being tracked. Immobilise is a free UK national property register. Should anything happen and your items get lost or stolen you can go back into the database and update your item status as lost. This will not only alert the police but also the second hand trade market which should prevent your item getting sold on.

Make sure you set up your App trackers. The Find My iPhone and Android Device Manager apps on your handset allow you to pin point the location of your phone should you lose it. Speaking from experience I lost my phone once on a night out at university and used the find my iPhone app to find my phone which had slipped under a bar. If the app can’t find your phone you can delete all your data protecting it from opportunist thieves. 

Invest in a good screen case and protector. This one might seem obvious but so many phones are still left unprotected! We’ve all had that dreaded moment when we’ve dropped a phone on hard ground. For some reason it ALWAYS lands screen face down and your heart sinks as you walk over to pick your phone back up and examine. A tempered glass screen protector can make all the difference as this will shatter and absorb a lot of the impact and in most cases spare your phone. These were quite expensive when they first came out but you can pick one up for around £5 now. A shock absorbing case is also a massive aid, sparing your phone from dents and scratches, especially if it lands on a corner.

Use your warranty. Most gadgets come with at least one year’s warranty (often two if you register online) Keep your receipt safe, especially if your item cost a pretty penny or two and return it to the manufacturer should it have any issues.

Holidays. If you’re going somewhere on holiday which is by the sea or pool invest in a good waterproof case. We all use our phones as cameras these days and speaking from experience I was on a boat that capsized and my phone was in my pocket! Unfortunately for me the salt water brought a premature end to my phones life. Something that could have been avoided had I taken precautions.

SMS Phishing. Beware of SMS phishing. Anyone who watched Hunted recently on Channel 4 will know that a simple text message asking you to enter a couple of very simple details is the gateway to someone owning your entire online profile. It’s that simple. If you receive a message from someone you don’t know or it looks suspicious, delete it right away. Remember banks and companies you hold accounts with will never ask for your details over text.

Digital Secure. As technology improves it becomes easier and easier for us all to share personal data from our names, addresses and bank details online. Storing all this information on devices makes life easier and is great for one click purchases.  Unfortunately though this has led to an increase in cybercrime and data theft. To combat this Protect Your Bubble offer a service called Digital Secure as an add on to your insurance. Digital secure protects your devices with keystroke encryption technology which protects them against malware and spyware attacks. On top of this digital secure will also alert you should any of your details be shared online as well as online credit reports. You can find out more about digital secure here: http://uk.protectyourbubble.com/about-digital-secure