Our Opinion: Take steps to protect cellphone data from prying eyes

We’re not sure how we lived before cellphones. Ours is glued to our hip, and we use it constantly. But for all the connectivity and convenience they provide, cellphones also contain a mountain of important information that others could use to do us harm.

Twice this year, we learned of alleged improprieties involving law enforcement officers and individuals’ cellphones. One case involved a then-Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper, David McKnight, and the other focused on a then-Florissant police officer, Julian Alcala. Federal authorities charged both men with illegally accessing personal images of women on their cellphones, ostensibly while possessing the cellphones to access vehicle insurance, registration or identification information during a traffic stop.

While these cases are particularly alarming because of the law enforcement angle, they are rare compared to other types of data breaches involving our ubiquitous cellphones. Sometimes, these leaks occur because of system failures; other times, they are the result of hackers targeting data.

Regardless of how or why, all the information on our cellphones is at risk of becoming public at any time.

Think about everything we have on those powerful devices.

Records for insurance (vehicle, health, etc.). Banking and other financial information. Online account user names and passwords. In recent years, apps for everything from unlocking security systems and vehicles to tracking our every move have become commonplace. Also, private personal communications and/or images that we may want to stay private may not stay that way.

Considering all the risks, we may want to reconsider how we keep our information away from prying eyes.

For example, insurance companies still provide hard copies of policies, or at least the ability to print off proof of coverage. Carry a card or paper copy of those policies instead of turning over a cellphone.

Apps that keep notes — such as door code combinations and a reminder of where we hid the extra key and a spouse’s Social Security number and birthday — have locking capability. Use it.

Make sure that banking or other financial data is behind a secondary identification blocker (password-protected or facial recognition) and is not viewable when a cellphone is “open”.

And keep control of your cellphone. Don’t leave it on a table during a quick trip to a restroom or in an unattended shopping cart. It only takes a second for a cellphone to disappear.

As for images reserved for certain people … well, you’re on your own with those.