Abstract

A computing device (e.g. mobile phone, smartphone, tablet computer, etc.) may be configured to delete data in response to detecting that the computing device has been submerged in water or other liquid (or is otherwise irrecoverable). For example, if a user drops a computing device into a lake, after a certain amount of time, the computing device may delete all or a portion of data stored by the device (e.g., user data, system data, etc.). The computing device may detect submersion in water or other liquid by processing data from one or more sensors (e.g., accelerometers and/or pressure sensors) included in the computing device. Upon detecting submersion in liquid, the computing device may start a countdown timer (e.g., with a time selected to be shorter than the water resistance time of the device) to delay the execution of the delete operation. A user may cancel (e.g., abort) the delete operation prior to the expiration of the timer. For example, if a user drops the computing device into the bathtub but retrieves the device within a short period of time, the user may cancel the delete operation. A user may also configure various settings of the delete feature (e.g., opting in or out of the feature, what data to delete, duration of countdown timer, etc.). By providing the ability to delete data in response to detecting submersion, a computing device may protect data stored by the device.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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