Decentralizing your important stuff, smart phone dependence

[alexkuzmov]

So yesterday I almost lost my phone.

Long story short, I went to the mall to get a massage on those massage chairs and left my stuff beside it.
When the massage was done, I stood up, took my pack and went about my business in the mall.
15-20 minutes later I notice my phone is gone, went back up wasnt beside the chair, and then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

I just lost access to all my important accounts, the pictures and clips of my son which arent backed up yet, possibly a third of my money since I have a bank app which works with 2FA and mail verification which are both on the same phone, phone contacts, work notes and audio, I cant even name them all.

Stopped strangers which were kind enough to let me call my phone, first attempt, no answer, second attempt, phone turned off.
Shit, I thought, 100% stolen, people who find phones dont just shut them off when they ring.
Turned out, one of the cleaning ladies picked it up and delviered it to security later by their request.

The absolute hilarious part is that I`ve been getting more and more in to stoicism and one of the reasons I was in the mall is that I bought the book Marcus Aurelius Notes to self seconds before I realize that my phone is gone.
While waiting for any news from the security people (which did an awesome job finding my phone by checking the cameras) I just stared at the book and though: "Well shit, I didnt expect a test to my fortitude to come so soon after buying the book" and started laughing and reading.

Lessons.

1. Dont use your everyday phone for account verifications.
Just dont.
Make sure to have a separate phone for banks, emails, brokerage, exchanges and so on.
Too many platforms now require verification by phone to keep all of that imporant access on the same device.
Just keep it at home, you dont really need to do any banking while on the go, right?

2. Put a password on your phone.

3. Always set the settings on your imporant account to automaticall log off so you dont worry.

4. Enable automatic backups where you can.

 

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[mdot]

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