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How to turn on Stolen Device Protection on your iPhone to secure your data

Apple’s Stolen Device Protection is a new feature that makes it harder for iPhone thieves to wreak further havoc. The feature requires a combination of biometric scans and time delays before using payment features or changing account security when it's away from familiar locations.

Stolen Device Protection takes a bad situation — someone stealing your iPhone — and reduces the chance of it spiraling into something much worse. The tool may have been inspired by a Wall Street Journal report from early 2023 about an increasingly common practice of thieves spying on users while entering their passcode — right before snatching the phone and taking off. If they’re experts, they could theoretically do all that within minutes (if not seconds) before you can log onto Find My and report your device as lost.

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