Survey says plenty of readers skip SIM PINs, and that’s pretty alarming
Source: Android Authority
Survey Overview
SIM cards are often forgotten yet essential pieces of our smartphones. They allow devices to connect to network providers, facilitating phone calls, texting, and internet services. While a phone can technically operate without a SIM, it’s far from efficient.
Given the power of these little chips, they should be secured with a PIN to prevent unauthorized use. However, entering the PIN after every restart can be tedious, and Google seems to be aware of this inconvenience.
To gauge how many of our readers secure their SIMs with PINs, we ran a poll.
Results
- Total votes: Over 1,800
- No PIN enabled: 58.3% of voters
- PIN enabled: 34% of voters
- Unsure: 7.4% of voters
The majority of respondents don’t consider securing a SIM very important. As someone who still uses a physical SIM and always secures it with a PIN, the results are concerning. If a phone falls into the wrong hands, a PIN can prevent misuse of the number and mobile services.
Some readers may forego a PIN for their eSIMs, since they can’t be physically accessed and would require the phone’s PIN to use them.
Reader Comment
Bonny Babu Onat wrote:
“If you are using an ESIM, I recommend to disable this feature when tracking a lost phone which require data to be active.”
Discussion
Do you secure your SIM card with a PIN? If not, why? Is it for convenience, or do you use an eSIM?